Richard Young, CivicLex
As told to the team at the Local News 2035 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 control over their lives, no sense of autonomy. That’s existential to what it is to be human, but it’s also essential to the American identity.
In scenarios one and two, things happen to people. In this third scenario, we have the opportunity to build things for ourselves. That’s something we can actually get people to rally behind, even across politics. Whether you’re a constitutional conservative or a hyper-local progressive, you can support this idea of self-governance and agency.
One thing that’s critical as we move toward this future is holding on to the concept of decentralization. When you start thinking about news as public infrastructure and federal government investments, there’s a tendency to drift toward centralization. But decentralization means contextually responsive infrastructure—every community has its own locally responsive systems. They’re not all falling into the same models or being centrally managed.
What might prevent us from getting to that future? Our infrastructure and support systems aren’t designed for decentralized approaches. If we’re seeing policy and business model innovation at the local level, how is that being discovered, shared, and resourced? That’s a real challenge.
The exciting thing is you can see this already happening. I don’t think this future is as far off as 2035. People are yearning for this type of agency and meaningful role in their community’s future. The question is: Will our institutions catch up?
At CivicLex, there are several ways we could use this scenario to inform our work. We’ve been hesitant to receive revenue from local government directly, and this could help us reconsider that position, especially with the endorsement of national thought partners and philanthropy. We’re also thinking about how to bring our members more into our decision-making processes, potentially through cooperative ownership models.
This scenario has also helped me think differently about AI. Many on my staff are skeptical, but this gives me tools for talking about engaging artificial intelligence in the right way. It’s going to be here regardless, so we need to figure out how to work with it responsibly.
Finally, there’s an opportunity to integrate our newsroom more deeply into our civic education programming in public schools. Seeing journalism as a form of civic practice in schools and apprenticeships affirms that direction for us.
Richard Young is the Founder and Executive Director of CivicLex.