Three years of The Local: Why we started + what's next

Hey Locals,

Cheers to three years! Today, we have a special anniversary edition for you as a thank you and a way to reflect on where we've been, as well as to share what we have in store for the year(s) ahead.

We hope you enjoy the following Q&A between our Reporter Rachel Horton and The Local's Editor and Co-Founder, Kara Hackett.

Rachel: Let's get right into it. Media/journalism has been in freefall for years. And yet, you decided to start an online news publication. What were you thinking?

Kara: Short answer: We weren't thinking. (Just kidding.) As a journalist for about 10 years before doing this, I was painfully aware just how sparse the funding and resources have become for traditional journalism. 

My first job out of college in 2013 was being the first social media manager for The Journal Gazette. One of the things I remember about that role was my managers asking me how they might reach younger, modern audiences who weren't subscribing to the print paper. They seemed concerned that young adults might no longer be interested in local news. But whenever I met up with my friends for coffee or drinks, I noticed that people my age really wanted to know about my job and what was happening "behind-the-scenes" in Fort Wayne. They just didn't want the information in the way that it had always been presented to them. 

This sparked the idea for my column at The JG, Coffee Break, circa 2014, which later helped me become managing editor of the news magazine, Input Fort Wayne, when it launched in 2018. Both of these ventures were focused on what I considered my forte: long-form news reporting. But once again, I realized that for the most part, my friends weren't regularly reading my work. Not because it wasn't interesting and important to them, but because it was time-consuming; they were busy; and many of them were already feeling overwhelmed by the 24/7 news cycle. The last thing they wanted was MORE news.

This eventually led me and Michael (my husband, who prefers brief news) to realize that part of the challenge facing journalism is the length of well-researched news writing, yes, but also the value proposition. The average citizen might not want to pay for longform reporting or a publication they consider "additional news" to the firehose of information already coming at them. But they might be willing to pay for a service that summarizes local news and knowledge for them into succinct, casual 5-10 minute weekly news briefs. This way, they can stay clued in to what's happening around town without getting overwhelmed and still have links and resources to dive deeper on topics they care about. 

Rachel: Tell us more about how you came up with the idea for The Local.

Kara: I have long wanted to start a news publication of my own, but I was always intimidated by the business and advertising side of it, as well as the sheer expense and immense amount of work it takes to do it well. Even when I worked at The JG, with a staff of dozens of people (at the time), there was always more work to do than we had the staff to cover. The idea of running my own local news outlet seemed entirely overwhelming -- if not impossible. But when I was getting lunch with a friend one day, they were talking about social media influencers, and how they have these one-person-band businesses that provide a curated experience for their audiences. And it clicked for me that maybe I could do that for local news, too. 

When I pitched the idea to Michael, I expected some pushback, but as a transplant to the area himself, he thought the newsletter might appeal to other people who had recently moved to Fort Wayne and were excited to get plugged in. He also agreed to help run the business/advertising side for me. From there, we sought advice from a lot of friends and fellow news people, including two of our now-contributors, Ryan Schnurr and Jeff Blossom. So many people were generous with their time, including my mother, which helped us make this a reality even in a busy season of our lives as new parents.

Rachel: You’re married, raising a kid, and running a business together. What have you learned about your relationship by working on The Local?

Kara: Good question. I think we've learned we really are a good team, and we have complementary skills that help us achieve our goals. We're also an opposites-attract couple. I tend to be very outgoing and high-energy/high-stress, whereas Michael provides steady consistency and peace of mind. He's also not a journalist by trade, which I think helps our publication appeal to readers who aren't "newsy," but still want to learn about Fort Wayne.

Working with your partner definitely brings a new element to the relationship that's not right for everyone, and it can be challenging to navigate difficult conversations or simply have enough time, since Michael also works full-time as a freelance video editor. But for us, it's been a good thing overall, and it was honestly our only option, since we didn't pursue startup funding.

Rachel: What did you initially envision for The Local? How has that evolved since starting?

Kara: Initially, I was feeling burnt out on long-form news reporting and fundraising for it as the former managing editor of Input Fort Wayne. It felt like I was getting further away from my real passion, which was working with citizens to answer the questions they had about Fort Wayne. When I worked at The JG and Input, I felt very plugged into the city's political and organizational leadership, but I also felt like I spent very little time engaging citizens on a regular and personal basis to hear their ideas about what they wanted to read. So I envisioned The Local as a for-profit, community-driven news platform that was entirely funded by citizens themselves for an affordable price ($6/month). 

Starting off, we intentionally didn't seek or accept high-dollar funding or sponsorship deals, which could make us beholden to something other than the public interest. (I've come to learn that as a journalist, you ultimately work for whoever pays you.) I felt that, since I had the privilege of not having to turn a profit immediately or support my family with this venture, why not try making it entirely citizen-funded? Of course, over time, our vision has evolved, as we've heard from like-minded, local organizations that want to support our work and our journalistic freedom. But to this day, we don't accept/offer sponsorship levels of more than $1,500 from any one source to ensure that we're not beholden to any high-dollar ownership. We also try to be as open as possible with partners in letting them know: We work for the public first and foremost. And that's worked well for us. Most of our best-read and best-reported stories so far have been investigating things readers have asked us about, like Flock cameras.

Rachel: What are some of the most memorable stories that you’ve worked on?

Kara: There have been so many. But the first one that really stood out to me was our report on Veo Scooters in August 2023. I think that helped us realize the true power and potential of what The Local could become. It started off as a simple report on City Council's move to cancel its contract with Veo Scooters, which were highly controversial Downtown. But as we looked into the issues more, we realized that people's frustrations with scooters might be less about the scooters themselves and more related to how well cities are (or aren't) set up for pedestrian and multimodal transportation. It was the "story behind the story" that no other news outlets in Fort Wayne were really telling at the time, and I think that's become The Local's forte. We're not just observing and reporting on what's happening in local news; we're also providing our paid subscribers with original, research-backed insights that fill gaps in Fort Wayne's news scene.

Rachel: How did you grow this publication from scratch to over 3,500 subscribers?

Kara: Our dedicated readers and paid subscribers are a huge part of that. Because we didn't want to seek startup funding and sponsors early on, we relied entirely on word of mouth and the value of our news service to sell it. Along the way, we've tried a variety of things, like our monthly deals for paid subscribers with local restaurants to help offset costs, as well as more traditional promotion strategies, like paid ads on social media. But over and over again, we tend to see the best -- and most valuable -- growth when we report on something our readers truly care about and when our readers share our work organically on their own platforms or by forwarding our newsletters to friends and family -- which we encourage everyone to do, if they feel so moved.

Rachel: What’s surprised you since starting The Local?

Kara: We're always surprised (and honored) when we hear from readers how much they enjoy the newsletter or when we see residents reiterating some of our reporting behind the mic during public input sessions at City Council. It feels like our work is really making a difference in people's lives and equipping citizens to participate in our democracy on a local level, where their voices can really make an impact. Something we've learned along the way is that while some folks are very tuned in to what's happening in Fort Wayne, it's a rather small and insular group. There's a significant knowledge and time gap that average citizens face to showing up at City Council and advocating for things they care about or simply sharing their experiences. We've noticed a big increase in the number of people showing up at City Council meetings locally since we started, and that's probably due to a lot of factors. But it's exciting to think we might have played a small role in it.

Rachel: What’s challenging about running a subscription-based online news publication?

Kara: The challenges with news businesses of any kind today are extremely complicated and layered, but if we're talking specifically about subscription-based online news, there are always so many things competing for people's money and attention. Subscriptions (to anything) can be intimidating. It's also really hard to fund news, regardless of how you do it, because whoever funds you controls you, and even traditional newspapers in their heyday didn't rely entirely (or even mostly) on individual subscribers to support their work. 

We're always struggling to figure out not only how to reach readers in our fractured media market, but also how to balance our need for promotion and funding (to hire staff) with our desire to keep The Local as independent as possible so it can effectively carry out its mission. And then there's the ever-present need to keep subscription prices down and provide as much free information to the public as possible to compete with all of the misinformation and disinformation on the internet. There are so many things, but thankfully, we're not the only people trying to do this, and we've received a lot of ideas, encouragement and funding via national organizations, like LION Publishers (Local Independent Online News).

Rachel: What are your thoughts on the future of The Local?

Kara: We're excited to have more people participating in our reporting on a freelance basis and so many dedicated readers sending us information behind the scenes. We'd love to keep growing and cultivating this network of participants in local news and to keep bringing down the curtain between citizens and local decision-makers. This year, we're expanding our partnerships in the community to the YLNI Farmers Market and the History Center, with events and cross-promotion. We're also hoping to build more regular networking opportunities among local journalists in Fort Wayne, who might not have the support of a newsroom to guide them in their work. (Reporting can be a very high-risk, low-reward and depressing job if it's done in isolation.) We'd love to experiment with more short videos and podcasts, too, as time and funding allow. And we're always looking for ways to be smarter about how we market our work -- just letting people know we exist.

Rachel: What advice do you have for people who want to get more involved in local journalism?

Kara: Contact some of our local legacy news publications, like The JG or WANE 15, and see if you can do a job shadow, informational interview or internship. If you want to innovate in journalism or participate in more modern expressions of newsgathering, it really helps to have that foundational understanding of news history and how newsgathering has worked in the past -- even if you intend to do it differently. I'm very grateful for the time I spent at The JG (and Input), and I don't think I would be able to do what I'm doing now -- or at least not as well -- without those experiences. I still regularly meet with mentors who have more journalism experience than I do. There's always more to learn.

Rachel: In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, what do you love most about Fort Wayne?

Kara: Fort Wayne, like so many places, is much more complicated and interesting than it appears on the surface. Michael and I didn't necessarily expect to live here long-term, much less start our own news business here, but something that keeps us here is that it feels like there's a lot happening – from developments at City Council, to new restaurants and the people and places we've encountered. We've also seen a real need for the work we're doing, and we've enjoyed having the freedom and opportunity to do it here, thanks to having family nearby, having so many mentors in the local news community and having the basic affordability of Fort Wayne (compared to more expensive cities). There's not really one thing I'd say I love most, but when you combine all of the little things that make Fort Wayne special, it's a wonderful, challenging and exciting place to be.

Thank you for reading!