The National Trust for Local News

Abstract

The legitimacy risk facing newspapers is entangled in a downward spiral with their business risk. Private capital has increasingly stepped in to help manage the business risk and take advantage of newspapers’ asset strength. But the ownership, governance structures, and values of private capital do not allow for either the long-term business transition or the social transition that local newspapers need to make in order to truly serve the present-day information needs of their communities. The National Trust for Local News would establish a national non-profit entity with a focus on assembling a capital pool of >$1Bn combined with national scale operating expertise to acquire newspapers and work with local groups to build local ownership and support. The Trust would issue tax-exempt Local News Bonds, which could also be available to small retail investors, community members, and other civic stakeholders to help finance the ownership and governance transitions. The Trust’s vision and structure are inspired and aligned with the movement for more creative and inclusive uses of capital and growing movements to build new democratic institutions.