The Rideau Hall Foundation and the Michener Awards Foundation recently co-hosted the second Putting the Local Back in Local News symposium in Charlottetown, PEI. It brought together 85 people from across Canada representing local news organizations, the philanthropic sector, government and public policy. All with the goal of sharing innovations, solutions and best practices that can help strengthen the local news ecosystem.
The results of this year’s symposium were clear: new connections, opportunities, collaborations, and real commitments to action. Practical solutions and follow-up plans were already taking shape before the conference even ended.
While more work lies ahead, momentum is growing around local news renewal. Here are three important takeaways from the summit that will help focus our work in the weeks and months ahead:
- Keeping the community together is key:
From community bingo to hosting telethons and toonie drives, local news organizations are often the heart of small towns and communities. They are the storytellers and history keepers, helping residents make sense of the world around them. Yet, their work can feel lonely and isolating, often keeping their publications afloat through sheer willpower. Over the course of the summit, we heard how important building this community of local news guardians is. It gave publishers and owners the opportunity to share the weight they carry, ask for advice and find solutions to common problems. It also reminded us that others care deeply about local news and its importance to social cohesion and a robust democracy. Nurturing this small and mighty community of local news champions is something we can all commit to. - Philanthropic funding has an important role to play:
Philanthropic funding can do so much for small, local news organizations. Through project and mission funding, it can help ease the pressure from diminishing ad and subscriber revenues, add capacity, and help develop new skills. Several participants reflected on how winning a Covering Canada: Election 2025 grant gave them the courage to be bold, to rise to the occasion and try new things. Experimentation can feel costly, but with some support, innovating can bring in new audiences, improve efficiency, and open new possibilities. - There’s room for everyone to care more about local news:
Everyone has a roleto play in supporting a healthy local news ecosystem. From a philanthropic perspective, supporting local news can help advance other issues we care deeply about, from climate action, to housing, or food insecurity. While there may be debate around what has more impact, mission-based or project-based funding, both help small local news organizations deliver on the commitments they’ve made to their communities. Even simpler: commit to advertising in local news organizations. The RHF is dedicating 30% of our advertising budget to invest in local news organizations across the country, and we invite our colleagues and collaborators to do the same.
It’s clear there’s a huge amount of passion for local news, and now, a real sense of hope and momentum as well.
