We’re counting them down and headed straight for No. 1. This is the second half of our look at the most popular stories on the Local Media Association website for 2025.

As noted in Part 1 of the countdown, artificial intelligence (AI) was the most popular topic of the year. There were five articles in the Top 10 in all, and two in the Top 5.

No. 5 — Making a better case for local journalism


Sustainability starts with clearer storytelling about journalism’s value. Drawing from the Lab for Journalism Funding and feedback from funders, this article urged newsrooms to frame their work around impact, community needs and real-world outcomes — not abstract mission statements. Clear value propositions, the piece suggested, are essential to sustaining public support.
https://localmedia.org/2025/02/making-a-better-case-for-local-journalism/

No. 4 — What newsrooms need to know about collaborating with influencers

Journalist and consultant Adriana Lacy helped us understand why influencers are now part of the local news ecosystem, particularly for reaching younger audiences. This story outlined the risks and opportunities of collaboration, emphasizing transparency, vetting and shared values, while encouraging newsrooms to think of journalists themselves as on-platform personalities.
https://localmedia.org/2025/05/what-newsrooms-need-to-know-about-collaborating-with-influencers/

No. 3 — Webinar highlights: From pageviews to loyalty — the KPIs that grow audience and revenue

This webinar made the case for abandoning pageviews as the primary success metric. Instead, it highlights KPIs such as time spent, return frequency and newsletter engagement as stronger indicators of growth and revenue potential. The takeaway is clear: loyalty, not volume, predicts sustainability.
https://localmedia.org/2025/10/webinar-highlights-from-pageviews-to-loyalty-the-kpis-that-grow-audience-and-revenue/

No. 2 — AI trends to keep an eye on: June 2025

Rather than chasing AI hype cycles, this trends roundup from LMA board member Ethan Holland focused on platform-level developments — including agentic AI, interface changes and Big Tech investments — likely to reshape search, advertising and distribution. The article urged publishers to monitor broader industry shifts, not just newsroom tools, when planning for AI’s impact.
https://localmedia.org/2025/06/ai-trends-to-keep-an-eye-on-june-2025/

No. 1 — How The Baltimore Times uses AI to serve audiences better

The most popular story of 2025 on the Local Media Association website was a feature posted in 2024 — that’s how popular it was!

The Baltimore Times offers a grounded, human-centered model for AI adoption. The newsroom uses AI for editing assistance, image generation, accessibility, audience engagement, and audio storytelling — always with editorial oversight. The piece showed how AI can expand capacity and service without becoming the story itself.
https://localmedia.org/2024/02/how-the-baltimore-times-uses-ai-to-serve-audiences-better/

Editor’s note: Artificial Intelligence was used to create a draft of this article, which was then edited by LMA staff.