Sending a day early because I’ll be happily skiing in the northern Catskills on March 1.
We are living through the deliberate dismantling of democratic institutions—a planned strategy to weaken systems that hold power accountable, a form of revenge against those who would constrain it.
The people behind this effort take pride in their lack of precision, wielding chaos and fear to gain compliance. The full impact—on real human lives—will only become clear over time, but those driving the destruction are happy. If anything, this exceeds their wildest dreams.
But destruction is only half the project. The real question is: who will shape what comes next?
As this unfolds, we must recognize that our institutions don’t just need to be defended now—they will likely need to be rebuilt. That work will require many hands, and local journalists will play a crucial role.
First, defense
Journalism is under attack—through threats, financial pressure, and disinformation. The same forces working to dismantle national democratic institutions are also targeting the press at all levels, seeking to weaken it through campaigns aimed at undermining public trust. Journalism can serve as a check on power, but only if it has the necessary resources and protections to do so. That includes:
Broader public awareness of journalism’s core service mission and how attacks on it fit into a larger destabilization effort.
Stronger legal aid for newsrooms and journalists facing politically motivated and SLAPP lawsuits and other forms of pressure.
Without these defenses, many news organizations won’t survive long enough to play a role in what comes next.
Next, reconstruction
While much of the destruction is national, its impact will be deeply local. When the dust settles, local journalism will be needed more than ever.
Rebuilding will require a diverse coalition—civic institutions, nonprofits, businesses, educators, faith groups, attorneys, and individuals of all backgrounds—recognizing their shared interest in maintaining functional systems and support networks.
Local journalism will be essential to this process—not by reporting from above, but by embracing its role as a source of truth and a connector, a vital part of a system of public services. Local journalists help people navigate daily life—elections, government, economics, and more—while strengthening community ties. They:
Inform through trusted, fact-based reporting, showing their work.
Expose corruption and counter misinformation.
Provide the essential public service of helping people understand policies, elections, and civic life.
Bring people together through civic forums, public discussions, job fairs, workshops, and more.
It may feel strange to say this while so much is under threat, but indispensable institutions rarely disappear.
Financial sustainability: a necessary foundation
For local journalism to play this role, it must be financially sustainable. National philanthropy can help—and has been helping—but real investment must come from the ground up: local foundations, business leaders, so-called “high-net-worth individuals,” and engaged citizens who recognize that a strong press is essential to a functioning community.
Everyone who cares about this must be able to make the case for investment. They need to explain the role local journalism plays in civic life and amplify its successes when it gets things right.
News organizations, in turn, must continue rethinking their business models and building sustainable revenue through:
Public trust and transparency—constantly sharing how their work is funded, how it’s done, who holds them accountable, and how their mission serves the public. What it costs and what it’s worth.
Digital transformation—shifting from print to digital (or hybrid) subscription models where necessary. Tens of thousands of journalists work at independent, for-profit “legacy” local news organizations, including many in Black and ethnic media, and we can’t afford to lose them.
Membership and nonprofit ownership—cultivating reader and philanthropic support for sustainable, public-service journalism. Nonprofits and digital news startups are a growing sector, but they are still not close to a point of full succession.
Civic literacy and community partnerships—inviting skilled and motivated community members to engage with journalism—not just as consumers, but as participants who deepen their understanding of its role, advocate for it, and help strengthen connections across diverse groups.
Civic events and convenings—bringing people together to build community and navigate daily life.
Journalism that does this won’t just be important—it will be essential.
Not just holding the line, but shaping what comes next
This fight isn’t just about resisting collapse—it’s about shaping what follows.
The opportunity to rebuild may come sooner than we think. But if we don’t prepare for reconstruction now, the same people tearing it down will be the ones deciding what replaces it.
Livin’ on the LIJ*
*Lenfest Institute for Journalism, that is****This is not an endorsement of Aerosmith, which recently made nearly $200,000 by selling a credit for Pennsylvania state taxes it didn’t owe—thanks to a scheme devised by three state power brokers and a single company who not only benefit from the scheme but also happen to be buddies.
Publications
📌 Beyond Print toolkit: A comprehensive guide for newspapers transitioning from a print subscription model to digital.
Amid intensifying assaults on the press, is it time for a ‘NATO for news’? Lenfest Institute CEO Jim Friedlich explores this question in a provocative op-ed published in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Navigating the AI landscape: How news organizations are creating trust-based AI policies: Lenfest Institute AI Fellow David Chivers shares insights on how our grantees are approaching AI policies and highlights best practices.
Audience Community of Practice: Generative AI: Our Audience CoP has published notes from our recent session on generative AI, led by Mayra Báez.
Want to build a thriving news ecosystem? We’re here to help: We’ve launched an editorial series sharing lessons on building sustainable news ecosystems in Philadelphia and beyond through our newly established Knight Communities Network.
Grant opportunities
💰 New opportunities for Lenfest Community of Practice members will be announced in early 2025.
Learn more about how our communities advance journalism sustainability
Be among the first to know: sign up for an Institute newsletter
Become a community member (it’s free): apply here
Interesting quotes
The slow corrosion of institutions, the capture of power by bad ideas, and the complicity of those who should resist. The spectacle of politics reduced to a game of nonplayer characters, the machinery of autocracy humming along. Disinformation thrives, attention fragments, and yet—somehow—Americans haven’t lost the plot entirely. Small communities reimagine survival, cultural battlegrounds harden into permanent divisions, and the weight of leadership shifts uneasily between the wreckage of the old and the possibility of something better. Beneath it all, a question lingers: If we still have a country when this is over, who will build what comes next?
“If we still have a country when he is done, we’re going to need a better establishment. So I’d close with some questions for educators. Every society on earth has a leadership class of one sort or another, so are you educating your students so that they can build a better establishment?” — David Brooks, We Can Achieve Great Things
“When you focus on evil, you become darker.” — Lawrence Wright, The Nuns Trying to Save the Women on Texas’s Death Row
“The reason Trump and his administration might succeed in taking its power is that they have turned congressional Republicans into [nonplayer characters].” — Ezra Klein, The Republican Party’s NPC Problem — and Ours
“Bad ideas do a lot of the work of building autocracy.” — M. Gessen, The Barrage of Trump’s Awful Ideas Is Doing Exactly What It’s Supposed To
“It turns out that, broadly speaking, Americans have not lost the plot just yet.” — Quoctrung Bui, Two Theories About Why Trump News Consumption Is High and Protest Still Low
“Like a dish of quinoa and kale that you may once have forced down and now actively enjoy, a woman of color could, you think, raise your game, supplying something like antiracist roughage.” — Kwame Anthony Appiah, As a White Man, Can I Date Women of Color to Advance My Antiracism?
“Anyone who offers a confident explanation of the situation is probably wrong. Fertility connects perhaps the most significant decision any individual might make with unanswerable questions about our collective fate, so a theory of fertility is necessarily a theory of everything—gender, money, politics, culture, evolution. Eberstadt told me, ‘The person who explains it deserves to get a Nobel, not in economics but in literature.’” — Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The End of Children
“After a communitywide campaign the Triplex reopened in November 2023 in a much different form. No longer is it dependent on ticket and popcorn sales. The Triplex has become a nonprofit organization relying on donations, grants and plenty of volunteer labor. And instead of leaning on the next Hollywood blockbuster, the Triplex focuses on what the community wants to see.” — Jim Zarroli, Movie Theaters Need Saving. Small Towns Have Figured Out a Fix.
PA
“We are reaching that point where there is a division that some people can’t come back from.” — Kris Maher, Elizabethtown, Pa., has become a microcosm for America’s latest culture wars.
“‘On its face, it's the definition of special interest capture,’ said Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First, referring to the interests of firms or political groups being given priority or favor over the interests of the public.” — Lisa Scheid, Taylor Swift, Metallica and Ariana Grande are some of the artists who got Rock Lititz tax credits
Last month’s shuffle
Each month, I put together a Spotify playlist of the songs that caught my ear. Some are familiar to me, some aren’t. Some are old, some are new. The playlist tends to span eras, genres, and sounds. It’s probably not for everyone but here it is!