Saving Community Journalism: The Path to Profitability

America’s community newspapers have entered an age of disruption. Towns and cities continue to need the journalism and advertising so essential to nurturing local identity and connection among citizens. But as the business of newspaper publishing collides with the digital revolution, and as technology redefines consumer habits and the very notion of community, how can newspapers survive and thrive? In Saving Community Journalism, veteran media executive Penelope Muse Abernathy draws on cutting-edge research and analysis to reveal pathways to transformation and long-term profitability. Offering practical guidance for editors and publishers, Abernathy shows how newspapers can build community online and identify new opportunities to generate revenue.

Examining experiences at a wide variety of community papers — from a 7,000-circulation weekly in West Virginia to a 50,000-circulation daily in California and a 150,000-circulation Spanish-language weekly in the heart of Chicago — Saving Community Journalism is designed to help journalists and media-industry managers create and implement new strategies that will allow them to prosper in the twenty-first century. Abernathy’s findings will interest everyone with a stake in the health and survival of local media.

Penelope Muse Abernathy, formerly an executive with the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times was Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 2008-2020.