What I love about the results so far is how they highlight the codependence of communities and local media outlets. A strong local news outlet empowers its community, that much is obvious. With declining readerships, however, the other side of the equation— how communities strengthen local media — has become less obvious.

The good news is that the answer’s not all that surprising. We’re literally in a social media era: we’re social about our media. Dozens upon dozens of tech companies are scrambling to find and build “community,” a task that’s comparatively trivial for local news outlets. I get the sense that a lot of what you’re describing is helping communities become more socially connected with their news providers… placing them on more equal footing, say, and creating centers for collaboration and conversation.

So it seems that a major contribution here is that you’ve provided the financial cushion and guidance for local outlets to regrow the connective tissue between them and their respective communities. Only then is there something worth selling, something with which to make journalism sustainable.