We’re proud to share inspiring stories of news media organizations that have benefited from our programs
Dear Friends of LMA and LMF,
Many great things happened in LMA/LMF programs in 2025, and this report tells those stories of successes for local media of all kinds and sizes. We would seem naive, however, if we did not acknowledge the environment in which we all fight for the survival of local journalism and business models to sustain it.
We see increased threats against journalists’ freedom to do their jobs — and worse. We worry as audience trust in news erodes, driven mostly by national political polarization but with cascading effects on local journalism. And the economics of the media business have never been tougher to navigate. We would understand if some folks chose to seek success elsewhere.
But that’s just it. The people who are still in this and those who are still coming into it, despite the negatives, give us hope and energy. We’re committed to help them find sustainable paths for local news. We enjoyed working with so many from this “culture of the willing” throughout 2025:
- We helped small, family-owned news outlets and publishers from the Black Press conduct practical experiments and community research aimed at understanding how to use Artificial Intelligence better, ethically and with greater audience trust.
- We kicked off a new collaborative of Spanish-language local media to pursue common journalism and business opportunities.
- We engaged with television broadcast companies, large and small, commercial and public, to help them transform for the digital/streaming era.
- We trained a record 66 newsrooms on fundraising best practices to sustain essential journalism through the LMA Lab for Journalism Funding, and alumni of the cohort have now raised more than $35 million to support local reporting.
- And we rolled out a variety of “shared services” models — from “fractional executive” services in technology, revenue and funding, to “shared specialist” services in audience development and direct sales. These services make needed subject-matter expertise affordable for smaller, independent media organizations.
This Impact Report tells those stories and describes the results. Our job is to provide resources, environments and sometimes just a listening ear — all to give the talented people in this industry what they need to succeed. LMA and LMF work to help the culture of the willing become the culture of the able. Please engage with us as we press ahead on behalf of local media and journalism.
Respectfully,
Julia Campbell and Jay Small
Co-CEOs, LMA and LMF
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