Organizer Diego Morales speaks at a rally before taking to the streets to protest ICE. Image by Camilla Forte for Borderless Magazine

Press Forward Chicago moved quickly to support immigration reporting when it mattered most

January 28, 2026

By Katie Hawkins-Gaar

When Tracy Baim first began talking with funders about support for immigration coverage in Chicago, she had no way of knowing how quickly the need would become urgent. After starting her role as executive director of Press Forward Chicago in January 2025, Baim began conversations with the Walder Foundation and the Joyce Foundation about expanding support for immigration reporting. She … Read More

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Local News Leader Spotlight: Henok Mengistu, Ethiopique

By Mark Glaser

Impact snapshot from a Press Forward grantee newsroom By Mark Glaser Who: Henok Mengistu, founder and publisher of Ethiopique Where: The “DMV”: Washington, D.C. metro area with Maryland and Virginia What: Ethiopique is the only Amharic-language local news and community platform in the U.S., reaching more than 100,000 Ethiopian and Eritrean people in the District of Columbia region. The site … Read More

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Community Governance First: Why Needs Must Drive Funding

Angilee Shah, Charlottesville Tomorrow As told to the team at the Local News 2036 project. When I think about the three Local News 2036 scenarios — where commerce dominates, where there's collapse, where the field reimagines its outcomes—I think the reimagined version and the very dystopian AI-driven commercial version are already here at the same time where I live. We’ve ... Read More

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The Crisis of Agency: Why It’s Time To Build What We Need For Ourselves

Richard Young, CivicLex As told to the team at the Local News 2036 project. The scenario that resonates most with me is “Trust, Justice and a New American Way.” It articulates a vision for the future of this field that addresses what I see as the crisis of our times: the crisis of agency. People don't feel any sense of ... Read More

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No Permanent Enemies: Local News Faces Existential Threats that Demand Unity

Darryl Holliday, Commoner Company As told to the team at the Local News 2036 project. There are threats to all of us right now — whether we're TV or newspaper or nonprofit — and we have to recognize that these threats threaten us all, even if we're in different parts of the field. Big tech companies and federal government actors ... Read More

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Looking Forward: Converting Cynicism Into Solutions

Amy Kovac-Ashley, Tiny News Collective As told to the team at the Local News 2036 project. It's a gift to be able to think about the future of journalism. That might sound strange, but this industry doesn't spend enough time looking ahead. We're constantly focused on what's happening right now, what's directly in front of us. Our inability to envision ... Read More

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The Moving Target: Building a Shared Language for Local News

Dale Anglin, Press Forward As told to the team at the Local News 2036 project. I've worked in a lot of different places in philanthropy — kids issues, community development, climate. I was at a foundation that did a little bit of everything, so you had to be a generalist. When I think back to all those different issues, certain ... Read More

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Starting from Community Need: Breaking Out of Our Usual Silos

Craig Aaron, Free Press As told to the team at the Local News 2036 project. What's really important as we think ten years out is: Where are we grounding this conversation? What's the goal? We've been through a long period where big media company profits have been the goal, and sometimes good journalism was a byproduct. We see what that ... Read More

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Centering Equity: Building a Future Where Information Is Not a Weapon

Kimberly Spencer, Director, Colorado Media Project As told to the team at the Local News 2036 project. The future I want to build is really defined by equity — a world where information is treated as civic infrastructure, ensuring everyone has access to the information that they need to navigate their lives. While we have made strides, since January, there ... Read More

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When ‘journalism’ and ‘democracy’ don’t land: How to talk about local news

December 15, 2025

By Katie Hawkins-Gaar

How do you talk about journalism when you can’t use the word itself?  That’s one of the surprising challenges raised by Words That Work: A Toolkit for Newsrooms, a new research-based resource commissioned by Press Forward and conducted by the Beekeeper Group. The project set out to understand what kinds of messages inspire trust and support for local news. Through … Read More

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