For decades, local media companies believed a simple formula: build the audience and the advertising would follow. But Gordon Borrell says that equation has quietly broken down as the local business landscape — and the people making marketing decisions — have fundamentally changed. Service-based businesses, in-house marketers and AI-driven tools are reshaping how advertising dollars are spent and who controls them. The result, Borrell warns, is a tougher marketplace where traditional media must rethink how they sell if they want to remain relevant to today's advertisers.

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https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/borrell-why-local-media-advertising-got-harder-to-sell,261030

Investigative journalism has never been easy. But according to the latest State of Accountability Journalism report from the University of Florida's Collier Prize, the reporters doing that work today say the obstacles are growing even as their commitment to watchdog reporting remains strong. Shrinking newsroom staffs, rising costs for public records and increasing resistance from government agencies are making investigations harder to pursue. Yet many journalists say the very pressures threatening accountability reporting are also reinforcing why it matters. As Collier Prize director Rick Hirsch put it, "this is a hard business. If you're going to stick in it, you've got to be committed and believe in the impact that it can have."

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https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/commitment-over-capacity-why-investigative-journalism-persists-despite-shrinking-newsrooms,260965

Rebuilding the statehouse beat: Inside The Center Square's growing newswire model

The decline of traditional newsroom staffing has thinned one of journalism's most important beats: statehouse reporting. As fewer reporters cover legislative chambers and the policy decisions shaping taxpayers' lives, new models have emerged to fill the gap. Among the fastest-growing is The Center Square, a nonprofit newswire focused on government accountability reporting that publisher Chris Krug says was built to address what he sees as a structural hole in the American news ecosystem.

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https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/rebuilding-the-statehouse-beat-inside-the-center-squares-growing-newswire-model,260877

For generations of service members, Stars and Stripes has been known as the soldiers' newspaper, funded by the U.S. government but protected by law to report independently on the military it covers. Now that independence is facing renewed scrutiny. Signals from the Pentagon about refocusing the paper's coverage and internal policy shifts have raised concerns among journalists and press freedom advocates that the Defense Department may be seeking to reshape the mission of one of the world's most unusual news organizations.

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https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/stars-and-stripes-defends-its-independence-amid-new-pentagon-pressures,260760

The Australian Financial Review once called Rod Sims "the most feared man in Australian business." Big Tech soon learned why. As chair of Australia's competition regulator, Sims helped design the groundbreaking News Media Bargaining Code that forced platforms like Google and Facebook to negotiate payments with publishers. In this conversation with E&P, Sims explores how the policy now sends roughly $250 million a year back to news organizations and what publishers around the world can learn from Australia's fight to make Big Tech pay for journalism.

Access more at this episode's landing page, at:

https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/how-australia-forced-big-tech-to-pay-for-journalism-and-what-publishers-everywhere-can-learn,260630

A new industry survey from the Local Media Consortium (LMC) suggests that while digital revenue across local media remains relatively stable, the path forward is becoming more complicated. One of the most striking findings: the number of publishers identifying audience revenue as a major challenge has surged dramatically year over year. Fran Wills, CEO of the LMC, says the shift doesn't necessarily signal collapse — but it does reflect a new phase of pressure on subscription growth and sustainability. In a conversation with E&P, Wills breaks down what the data reveals about the evolving economics of local journalism and where publishers may need to look next for long-term stability.

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https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/new-lmc-report-finds-digital-revenue-stable-as-audience-revenue-pressures-grow,260529

For decades, media leaders have debated whether journalism can sustain itself as a standalone business. But in a rapidly evolving landscape, Hearst is offering a different perspective — one outlined in its latest annual letter from CEO Steven Swartz, which makes clear the company's center of gravity has shifted far beyond traditional media. In a recent conversation on E&P Reports, David Carey, senior vice president of public affairs and communications at Hearst, expanded on that strategy, explaining how the company's transformation wasn't reactive, but decades in the making. His insights reveal a model that doesn't abandon journalism, but strengthens it through broader business innovation.

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https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/a-blueprint-beyond-media-how-hearst-is-redefining-sustainability,260420

When a newsroom can't hire reporters, the problem isn't always pay — sometimes it's rent. In one coastal community, the cost of living got so high that journalists simply couldn't afford to cover the news. So instead of raising salaries or cutting coverage, the solution took an unexpected turn: they bought a condo. It's a bold move that may point to a new model for keeping local journalism alive.

Access more at this episode's landing page, at:

https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/when-journalists-cant-afford-rent-one-newsroom-buys-them-a-home,260288