Leonard Downie — The Future of Local News: A Turning Point - with Sarabeth Berman

The local news crisis in the U. S. is at a turning point. The bad news is that too many local newspapers are continuing to shrink or disappear, and understaffed television and radio stations cover too little of their communities. The good news is that some newspapers have been saved, and hundreds of non-profit digital local and state news media have sprouted across the country, nurtured by national and local philanthropy. And students at a growing number of universities are covering state and local news for growing audiences. Former Washington Post executive editor Len Downie, now a Washington-based professor for Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, will discuss his timely report on this accelerating transformation of local news coverage and what it means for news consumers.Downie is in conversation with Sarabeth Berman. Berman is the Chief Executive Officer of the American Journalism Project (AJP), the first venture philanthropy dedicated to local news. AJP makes grants to nonprofit local news organizations across the country, supporting the successful launch of new enterprises and partnering with existing news organizations to grow and sustain their businesses. Since launching in 2019, AJP has raised more than $200 million and built a portfolio of 50 nonprofit local news organizations. Fast Company recognized AJP as one of the most innovative companies of 2023 for its work building a future for local news. Berman joined the AJP team in 2020, serving as the organization’s first CEO. Previously, she was Global Head of Public Affairs at Teach For All, a network of social enterprises in more than 50 countries, where she led communications and marketing, public-sector partnerships, and research and evaluation. Before joining Teach For All, she spent seven years in China, where she helped build Teach For China and managed a Chinese contemporary dance company. She was a 2006 Henry Luce Scholar based in Hong Kong. A graduate of Barnard College, she and her husband, journalist Evan Osnos, live in Washington, DC, and have two children. Berman serves on the boards of Capital B and the Mark Morris Dance Group.