The term local news is most often used to refer to newspaper, radio and TV journalism that serves a geographic community. However, our definition of local media includes the full range of communication outlets that tell a specific community’s stories—from hyperlocal news to community journalism, to social media. Local reporting is a cornerstone of civic engagement, providing essential information about local politicians and policies that affect their everyday lives. It also serves as a watchdog, holding government officials accountable and empowering citizens to make informed decisions.

Many communities have lost their daily newspapers, leaving a large gap in local news coverage. But a new generation of nonprofit newsrooms is working to rebuild quality journalism that serves the public interest. The stories that follow are examples of collaborative journalism, citizen engagement and national-local partnerships at work.

For example, the Boyle Heights Beat is a student-driven news project that focuses on the local neighborhood of Boyle Heights in East LA. Its youth staff—which last year included 14 high school journalists from five schools—reports on stories that wouldn’t appeal to a larger audience, subverting “murders and festivals syndrome.” The Beat offers students first-rate instruction and is overseen by professional journalism teachers.

In the United States, local news is usually provided on local television stations—often by affiliates of the major networks—either as standalone newscasts or short segments inserted into larger national newscasts. For example, CBS’s New York City affiliate WCBS-TV features a 13-minute local news segment after its evening sports newscast and before the national newscast Aktuellt on SVT1. In Australia, the country’s local commercial broadcasters produce a regional bulletin for each state that is aired as a standalone show or as a short news segment attached to the network’s morning newscasts.