Essay: Every Minnesotan Deserves to Know What’s Happening in their Backyard
Statewide alliance is working to grow and protect local news sources
Our stories are free to read, but not to produce.
This Thursday, April 30, is Minnesota Local News Giving Day. We’re joining newsrooms across the state this week in asking you to support the future of local storytelling. Early Giving is underway! This is your chance to make a donation to Root River Current without worrying about missing out on Thursday's Local News Giving Day event.
Together, Shaping Our Future.
There are a number of challenges facing local small town, community or neighborhood media organizations across the country—these include staffing, preparing the next generation of journalists, building trust and, chief among them, financial sustainability. Root River Current’s board and staff are as challenged by these issues as any community-centered newsroom—but we’re working hard to embrace these challenges as opportunities. No, we’re not being pollyannaish—we recognized from the beginning that starting something new like an online magazine would have its growing pains and is a bit of a gamble at a time when existing media already struggle. But we are hopeful that you, your friends and family, your businesses, our communities and now our elected representatives will recognize and support the unique local stories and information our team is committed to publishing, week after week. A new partner in this endeavor is Minnesota’s True North News Alliance, a statewide coalition of media organizations, civic leaders and community partners working to strengthen Minnesota’s local news ecosystem. As a participant in this new venture, Root River Current has been at the table from the beginning. Please know, however, that we can’t do this without YOU and our other loyal, inquisitive and encouraging readers’ and newsletter subscribers’ support. You are, indeed, part of what’s taking shape statewide to grow local media—so as a partner with Root River Current, we invite you to read on to learn more about how this initiative is raising awareness, and how we collectively can ensure a promising future for local storytelling in Southeast Minnesota! (The following article – edited for length – was first published by the Minnesota Star Tribune.)From the publisher
MINNESOTA’S MEDIA LANDSCAPE—Think about the last time local news mattered to you. Maybe you’re a parent who found out about a school board action. Maybe you own a small business, and a local story brought customers through your door. Maybe you found out about show times for a high school musical or learned about a new city ordinance. In each case, someone had to be on the ground to learn about and report the story.
Every Minnesotan deserves to know what’s happening in their backyard, and that requires people to do the work. This isn’t dissimilar from the people who design, build and maintain physical infrastructure like roads and bridges, or those who respond to emergencies or educate our children.
Local news is a community asset that creates informed citizens, not just another consumer product. It’s a public good that connects people to decisions that shape their lives.
We’ve always invested in sanitary sewers and libraries. But investing in how we stay informed about those decisions? That investment is overdue and we aim to call attention to it. That’s why we hosted a “news rally” at the State Capitol on April 7 to make the case for investing in local news.
Local news is essential. It builds communities and is a critical key to sustaining the civic structures and enduring sense of familiarity that bind us together as neighbors. We hope that you will join us in this effort.
The cost of waiting to invest is already showing. According to the University of Minnesota’s Journalism Center Ecosystem Mapping Project, 97 local news outlets across the state have closed since 2018—around a dozen per year. For every two outlets that shut down, only one new one has launched. Among the closures are papers that served their communities for over a century.
Yet local news today looks very different from a generation ago, or even 10 years ago. And it will look different a generation from now. The formats will keep changing, but the underlying need will not.
Participants at an April 7 Local News Day rally at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul exchanged stories about the need for local news in their respective communities. (True North News Alliance photo by Chris Juhn)
To meet the moment, the True North News Alliance formed in 2026 to push forward sensible policy solutions to strengthen local news for Minnesota communities. True North is a statewide, grassroots effort built on the belief that every community deserves reliable local information. We are community leaders, journalists, parents and citizens who rely on local news. From TV stations in greater Minnesota, to multilingual media in central Minnesota, to digital startups in Twin Cities neighborhoods, we are working to rebuild trust, credibility and civic culture by investing in local news.
We are advancing a proven, practical policy tool: a payroll tax credit for local newsrooms. Illinois and New Mexico have already passed versions of this legislation, and it is working. It keeps reporters employed. It keeps newsrooms viable. It is an investment in community infrastructure—no different from the way we invest in roads, bridges, education or broadband.
We are calling on Minnesota legislators to introduce and pass a local news revenue measure modeled on what those states have done. Minnesota should be next.
The tax credit alone will not solve everything. A healthy local news ecosystem requires multiple solutions: workforce pipelines that train the next generation of journalists, media grants and philanthropic investment, individual giving from readers who value what local reporters do, and advertising dollars from businesses that understand the connection between the press and a vibrant community.
On Tuesday, April 7, we met at the Minnesota State Capitol rotunda to share more about this effort from speakers, engaged community partners and journalists from across Minnesota’s news landscape (summary story below).
Every Minnesotan deserves reliable, local news, no matter where they live. To learn more about our mission and steering committee please visit our True North News Alliance website.
This article was submitted by multiple authors on behalf of the True North News Alliance: Yengyee Lor, True North News Alliance steering committee chair and 3HBC host; Steve Grove, CEO and publisher of the Minnesota Star Tribune; Shannon Slatton Schwartz, executive director of CCX Media; Mohamed Jama, founder and executive producer of Xidig Media; Chelsey Perkins, news director of KAXE; and Kimberly Parmeter, president and CEO of the Hermantown Area Chamber of Commerce, on behalf of the True North News Alliance.
Originally published by the Minnesota Star Tribune, this piece can be read in its entirety here. It was edited for Root River Current by John Gaddo.
To learn more about Southeast Minnesota’s earlier years of local ‘hometown’ papers, read Root River Current’s What Happened to Small Town Newspapers?
ST. PAUL—On Tuesday, April 7, the True North News Alliance did something this state has never seen before. It filled the Minnesota State Capitol Rotunda with dozens of media leaders and others supportive of local news for the first-ever rally calling on lawmakers to invest in local news as essential civic infrastructure. TV stations stood alongside print newsrooms. Ethnic and multilingual media stood alongside digital startups. Civic leaders, educators, elected officials, students, and community advocates from across Minnesota spoke with one voice: quality local information is a public good worthy of public investment. That kind of alignment doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because these folks showed up and spoke up. An Alliance that reflects Minnesota The tabling participants and speaker lineup showed the alliance’s breadth. True North Chair and 3HBC Host Yengyee Lor opened the rally, followed by Minnesota Star Tribune CEO Steve Grove, Sen. Heather Gustafson, Rep. Wayne Johnson, Jasmine Russell of the African American Leadership Forum, Charlie Weaver of the Metro Nonprofit News Network, and Anais Froberg-Martinez of ThreeSixty Journalism. Together, they laid out what’s at stake. Since 2018, 97 local news outlets have closed across Minnesota, and the revenue models that once sustained community journalism have fractured. Yet the appetite for trustworthy local information hasn’t gone away. Minnesotans still rely on and seek out local news and information. Yengyee Lor, True North News Alliance steering committee chair and host for 3HBC, the Twin Cities’ based Hmong Broadcasting Company, spoke at the first-ever Minnesota Local News Rally at the capitol in St. Paul. (Photo by Chris Juhn) The rally was a genuine moment for connection too—a chance for newsrooms, community leaders and advocates to swap stories and recognize the new outlets stepping up to serve Minnesota audiences in fresh and creative ways. From digital startups to independent creators to community-rooted nonprofits, a new generation of local news is taking shape, and the rally was a reminder of how much energy and innovation already exists in this ecosystem. “Local media is civic infrastructure,” said True North Chair Yengyee Lor. “When we invest in it, we protect trusted information, strengthen community voice, and make sure Minnesotans stay connected to the issues shaping their lives.” The rally was just the opening. The True North also planned to attend a Senate State and Local Government Committee informational hearing to make the case directly to legislators for why Minnesotans see local news and civic information as essential infrastructure. The alliance is working to advance 2026 legislative priorities, including a journalism workforce development bill (SF4183/HF4072) and the Minnesota Civic Seal (SF2565/HF2372)—with payroll tax credits for local reporters and civic information grant funds on the horizon for 2027 and beyond. True North was built on the belief that coordinated, collective action is the only way to address the root causes facing local news. Its 2026 session focus is on building the legislative groundwork for 2027 and beyond with a goal of passing legislation that partners policy, philanthropy and business to secure the future of local news in Minnesota. Details for this summary provided by the True North News Alliance. Learn more about the rally in this article published by MinnPost: Media Groups Hope Minnesota Will Join Other States in Bolstering Newsrooms ‘Need for local news’ message heard at the state capitol
How can you help RIGHT NOW?
This Thursday, April 30, is Minnesota Local News Giving Day. We’re joining newsrooms across the state this week in asking you to support the future of local storytelling. Early Giving is underway! This is your chance to make a donation to Root River Current without worrying about missing out on Thursday’s Local News Giving Day event.
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