Growing up in Middle Georgia, Rodney Manley remembers waiting every day as a child for his local newspaper to arrive. And when he finally got his hands on The Courier Herald , he went straight to the sports section. Rodney Manley, reporter, The Courier Herald Back then, he had no idea that he’d one day end up working for his hometown newspaper and uncovering the dire financial condition of the Dublin City School District. Manley has covered just about everything over a 35-yea

The Colorado Trust for Local News has completed a strategic digital expansion that brings community journalism directly to the inboxes of readers across the Front Range. Over the first six weeks of 2026, the COTLN newsroom launched six newsletters that are custom-built for email. The goal is to provide readers with topic- and community-centric news in a convenient digital format. These free newsletters also allow COTLN to build one-to-one relationships with new readers, reduc

"Innovation lives in the space between we can't and we did." The National Trust for Local News brought together leaders from its newsrooms in Maine, Georgia & Colorado for an energizing summit in Atlanta to galvanize a culture of innovation across the organization.  As the industry continues to evolve, we empower our local teams to innovate and experiment with new ideas that can secure a bright future for vital community news.

Katherine Lee understands the power of harnessing new technologies to drive journalistic impact. Earlier in her career, her team’s timely adoption of social media at the Tuscaloosa News earned them a Pulitzer Prize. Now, she carries that embrace of fresh innovations to her work leading features coverage as the news and culture editor at the Portland Press Herald. “We have to get outside our comfort zone and figure out how to use it,” Lee said of new technology. When Lee was c

Over the past two years, Central Maine reporter Emily Duggan started noticing routine school board meetings weren’t so routine. Parents who organized against the anti-LGBTQ rhetoric from growing conservative parents’ organizations stand outside school administration offices in Gardiner, Maine. Candidates with Christian nationalist agendas were elected to the boards, and the rhetoric changed from budgets and field trips to cultural issues such as LGBTQ+ youth and putting Bible

A town-by-town snapshot of everyone detained  by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after a week of enhanced enforcement in Maine. Protesters gather for anti-ICE rally in Portland's Monument Square on Jan. 30. A Maine-focused analysis  of the people identified in the Department of Homeland Security’s “worst of the worst” list.  Interviews with Mainers who welcome immigration sweeps  and on-the-ground coverage of protests against ICE enforcement. A father detained on h

Joshua Wilson has spent nearly two decades telling stories about the Deep South. But when he relocated to Macon in 2025 to lead The Macon Melody, the Mississippi native noticed something remarkable: Everywhere he turned, he encountered the city's extraordinary contributions to music. "Macon's influence on American music is staggering," Wilson said. "The Allman Brothers, Little Richard, Otis Redding, Jason Aldean — this city shaped, and continues to shape, the music we cherish

As the National Trust for Local News works to transform community news assets to grow the reach and impact of local journalism, the nonprofit today announced the launch of its new digital marketing agency, Switchline Digital . Led by experienced executives at the National Trust, Switchline will provide human-led, AI-driven marketing strategies for businesses across every industry. “Switchline Digital represents one example of the National Trust for Local News’s enhanced focus

In early 2025, The Portland Press Herald  stopped running nationally syndicated op-eds and started focusing solely on the state of Maine. The Maine Trust for Local News  also created a single Opinion and Letters section to serve all of its daily papers, giving top priority to Letters to the Editor and op-ed submissions that have a local or statewide focus.  📈 The result? Within six months, web visits to opinion stories or letters were up by 63%, with more than 300 new subscr