The Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media exists to support established and emerging local news organizations through applied research on economic sustainability and entrepreneurship as well as innovative news and digital product solutions.
Reinventing Local News
We're hiring!
UNC students interested in news leadership, entrepreneurship and the sustainability of the local news field: Join us this Spring for a paid internship. Learn more.
Featured Project
The Local News Congressional Bill Tracker
Years of declining revenues and expanding news deserts — made more acute by the COVID-19 pandemic — has sparked new interest in ways the federal government could support local news organizations. Here, you can read about the bills and track their progress through Congress.
New Bern Post staff undergoes community freelance training by CISLM
Members of Peletah Ministries are reviving a community news organization, The New Bern Post. The Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media helped in education and training in the foundations of reliable, fact-based journalism.
CISLM welcomes 11 Southeastern news orgs to fifth cohort of UNC Table Stakes program
This week, 11 local news organizations from across the Southeast will come together to form the fifth cohort of the UNC-Knight Foundation Table Stakes Initiative.
Alden acquisition threat includes more than 20 news ecosystems in NC, VA
The news ecosystem in more than 20 North Carolina and Virginia cities would shift under a proposal by Alden Capital to acquire Lee Enterprises.
A Q&A with Nikki Usher on historic news deserts, inequality in journalism
CISLM Intern Halsey Ziglar spoke to Dr. Usher about her research, the effects of news deserts on communities and the future of community news.
Nonprofit newsrooms turn rivalry into revenue streams
A recent Better News episode of the It’s all Journalism…
LISTEN: Growing audience during a pandemic
Growing a diverse audience during a pandemic is not easy,…
Want to build audience? Start with newcomers
Want to build audience? Take an idea from The Pilot,…
Whiteville’s The News Reporter adopts UNC Table Stakes’ digital-first mindset for successful transition
This Editor & Publisher piece profiles the digital success of…