Day: October 8, 2025

The health of local news is vital for the communities it serves. Local news reports on issues that directly impact residents, fostering community identity by reflecting their values, culture and concerns. It is also a critical watchdog for government actions and decisions at the local level.

As the need for quality local journalism continues to grow, more news organizations are turning to collaboration and community engagement to stay afloat in today’s shifting media environment. This round-up celebrates some of the best examples of national-local partnerships, civic engagement and solutions journalism.

These stories demonstrate how the future of local news depends on a healthy, vibrant news ecosystem. It starts with a commitment to professional and representative journalism that’s informed by community perspectives, meets citizens’ information needs, and engages readers. It includes diverse staffing, sustainable revenue streams and strategies to reach new audiences as news consumption habits evolve.

When a newspaper closed in Oglethorpe County, Georgia, the town of Williamstown was left with a 15-mile radius without a local paper—a verifiable “news desert.” In 2021, the college newspaper at nearby Grady College (the journalism and mass communication school for the University of Georgia) stepped up to fill the gap. The student editors at the Williamstown Record began reporting on town-specific issues, including racial justice protests and police misconduct.

In Australia, the Seven Network uses regional studios in Maroochydore, Surfers Paradise, Canberra and Bunbury to produce local news bulletins for different markets. In Sweden, the public broadcaster SVT airs a 13-minute standalone local newscast called SVT Nyheter each evening, following Sportnytt, and short local news segments are included in the nationally simulcast morning newscast Aktuellt.

Government policy is a system of laws, regulatory measures, courses of action and funding priorities promulgated by governmental bodies. It determines who gets what, when and how, and shapes public life, as well as societal trends and historical trajectory. Effective policies support societal demands and encourage civic engagement; ineffective ones create disillusionment with political institutions, which then fuels social movements seeking change.

Governments develop policy through a complex process, from agenda setting and problem identification to analysis, implementation and evaluation. They must consider the influence of political parties, national interests and the needs of a diverse population, as well as engage stakeholders in co-creating policy.

Policy decisions can take the form of taxes, subsidies, spending plans and regulations, all designed to achieve certain economic and social objectives. These objectives may be as simple as promoting economic growth, improving education or increasing social safety nets. They can also be as complex as reducing crime rates or safeguarding the environment.

A policy debate is a structured argument that involves two teams. One team affirms (supports) the resolution and the other team negates (opposes) it. Both teams have two constructive speeches and a rebuttal. They use a formal evidence structure called “cards” with full citations. Each team has a judge who votes for which team did the better debating. The affirmative speaks first, followed by the negative, who then asks questions. The positive then gives a rebuttal to the negative’s rebuttal, and so on.