Introducing Accelerate Local

Cracking the code to build a viable future for journalism will take far more than any one person or company can provide. Created by Local Media Association and backed by its deep partner network, Accelerate Local fuses the experience of local media with the ingenuity and strength of leading tech providers and entrepreneurs to reinvent business models that support a healthy local news ecosystem.

Local news matters more than ever, but the core business models that support this work have been profoundly disrupted. This has led to an astounding rate of decline of quality journalism across North America.

A thriving local news ecosystem is critical to community accountability, civic engagement and healthy democracies. With no existing replacement model to support local journalism, the need is urgent for new businesses that effect profound, not incremental, change.

LMA built Accelerate Local exclusively to address this problem. It is a transformative, purpose-built entity committed to ensuring the future of local news by discovering, researching, testing and delivering new business models that can profitably scale. As a nimble, skilled innovation machine, it can focus on the most promising models with the agility and rigor required.

Accelerate Local aspires to change the trajectory of the local media industry. We invite all interested media companies, foundations, technology providers, philanthropists and more to get involved with our efforts.

Here’s what LMA board members and team have to say about Accelerate Local:

Jason Jedlinski: There are a host of active initiatives meant to support local media, in various ways. LMA’s Accelerate Local stands out and complements those with a crisp focus on validating new business models to sustain both watchdog journalism and experiences which help communities meaningfully connect and share information. In these divisive times, that function is more essential than ever.Jed Williams: If we can create stronger,more sustainable businessmodels, then local mediacompanies will have a betterchance to execute on theirlong-standing missions ofcommunity connectedness, civic engagement andempowering audiences.Stephanie Slagle: The 15 monthsof strategicplanning with theLMA board couldnot have produceda better outcome. AccelerateLocal is a massive undertaking that will forever change the industry. We now will have a place to go to vet, test and execute new business models. As a smaller media company, this will be invaluable to us as we continue to transform our business.

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