CISLM will grow a more equitable and sustainable future for local news, the journalists who make it and the communities that need it. Through the intersection of research, education and practice, we will redefine sustainability to mean more than revenue. We will cultivate, feed and support the human resources who will reinvent journalism.
Reinventing Local News
We're hiring undergraduate and graduate interns!
If you're an undergraduate student looking for paid opportunities to help with social media, fact-checking and blogs about media innovation or a graduate student looking to gain experience in local news research, we'd love to chat!
Featured Project
Local Media Burnout Report
The journalists who power America’s struggling local news operations are experiencing burnout and considering leaving their jobs at high rates, according to results of a survey of more than 500 local journalists by the Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media.
On the balcony: Leadership lessons with Sarah Nagem
CISLM is looking back at six years in local news transformation: “Is this a story that really needs to be told, and will it make a difference? And (Table Stakes) really helped me step back and focus on those questions.”
On the balcony: Leadership lessons with Fernando Soto
CISLM is looking back at six years in local news transformation: “One of the most important things to being a leader is to be coachable, to be able to listen and to acknowledge that I don’t have all the right answers all the time.”
On the balcony: Leadership lessons with Hadley Hitson
CISLM is looking back at six years in local news transformation: “It’s definitely made any sort of goal seem more attainable because we have gone through this process step-by-step:”
On the balcony: Leadership lessons with Bill Horner III
CISLM is looking back at six years in local news transformation: “What we learned through Table Stakes was to break things down into pieces and to focus.”
Breaking with Brett Jensen: The dangers facing print media
Erica Perel, CISLM Director, spoke about how concerned people should be about the future of (especially local) journalism + why it is important for young journalists to be flexible and creative as they enter the industry.
Local journalism’s burnout crisis is unsustainable
“It’s probably not surprising to a lot of people in the field, but it definitely should be something that’s dealt with and not thought of as OK,” said Elizabeth Thompson, CISLM local news researcher and the survey’s lead.
Navigating burnout as a journalist
Following more than a decade of layoffs and consolidation in the local news industry, 70% of journalists have experienced work-related burnout, according to a new survey from the Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media.
CISLM presents research on state of news in NC at NC Local News Summit
Journalists, academics and news professionals traveled to Elon University to report updates on their respective works and share ideas on sustainability in local news.