Real progress

This morning, The New York Times titled its popular a.m. newsletter (circulation: 17 million), “The Rebirth of Local Journalism.” The story points to the bevy of up-and-coming online news organizations that are “thriving,” explains why there’s hope for sustainability, and links to examples of the year’s best work from these relative newcomers.

Included among the links: The Montana Free Press.

As a member of that organization’s Board of Directors, I’ve been privy to previous signs of success. Donors, pageviews, collaborations, hirings—all up. At our most recent Board Retreat, the discussion focused on continued growth, dynamic new initiatives and ambitious goals, all possible because of a carefully crafted fiscal foundation. MTFP is fortunate to be in a good spot, but don’t get me wrong: a link like this from The Gray Lady provides a huge boost, as well as a nice little affirmation of the organization’s important work.

(We should know because it’s not the first time this has happened. Earlier this year The Times also gave MTFP credit for breaking news regarding the governor’s nonbinary son lobbying his father to reject a slew of anti-LGBTQ bills.)

Journalists tend to be a pessimistic lot, so I like to appreciate the positive headlines. After watching traditional journalism take body blow after body blow after vicious uppercut, it can be easy to miss signs of a Rocky-like comeback—or perhaps just as easy to celebrate prematurely. The Times newsletter nicely captured this tricky balance by quoting a recent speech by Sarabeth Berman of the American Journalism Project.

“It took a generation for the American news industry to unravel, and it will take a generation to fully rebuild it,” she said. “But real progress is underway.”

We’ll take it.