LibGuides: Local News & Journalism: Community and Local Journalism

Community journalism

Community journalism covers towns, small cities and neighborhoods instead of national or state news. As small newspapers close, digital news sites are replacing them. Small local newspapers print papers and have websites as well, like the San Mateo Daily Journal and the Palo Alto Daily Post. Other local news outlets only have websites.

Listen to "How BIPOC-Focused Journalism Outlets and Their Communities Served One Another During the Pandemic" from KQED. "Three historic BIPOC-focused media outlets are celebrating anniversaries this fall – India Currents turns 35, Willie Ratliff, the publisher of San Francisco Bayview National Black Newspaper turns 90, and the Mission’s El Tecolote turns 52. These outlets may be small (compared to the mainstream media) but they are mighty. We’ll find out how their communities sustained their local media through the pandemic, and how the outlets sustained their communities in turn. Thriving together through difficult times."

The BayView

The San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper, founded in 1976, is a communications network for the Black community worldwide, with its website, www.sfbayview.com, the most visited Black newspaper on the web, second only to the Final Call, and one of a kind print edition that’s distributed throughout the Bay Area and mailed to subscribers, including thousands of prisoners all over the country.

El Tecolote

El Tecolote's Editorial Independence Statement is below.

"El Tecolote has full authority over our original editorial content to protect the integrity of our mission driven journalistic interests. As El Tecolote continues to grow beyond its 50th anniversary, we reaffirm our commitment to represent and uplift the diversity among our audience within our storytelling and our newsroom. We are proud to serve as a training ground for aspiring journalists, photographers, illustrators and translators in a dedicated effort to support the diversification of the greater media landscape."

India Currents

"India Currents is an award-winning, nonprofit, nonpartisan, multi-platform ethnic media organization focused on the Indian American community. They have documented the life of Indian Americans in Silicon Valley for over 35 years Our mission is to tell critical, relevant, and investigative stories for and about the diaspora in the San Francisco Bay Area and serve as an incubator for a new generation of storytellers. As conveners of the community, we play a distinctive role in connecting Indian Americans to each other, transcending cultural silos, and promoting civic engagement to support broader social justice issues."

48 Hills

48 Hills is San Francisco’s largest daily, independent community news and culture site, launched by the editors of the legendary SF Bay Guardian alternative weekly newspaper. For almost a decade, 48 Hills has covered local and global music, arts, nightlife, and cultural events from a deep and fiercely independent point of view, as well as reporting on vital news stories and issues, with a diverse array of community voices.

Bay Area Reporter

The Bay Area Reporter is America's longest continuously-published and highest circulation LGBTQ newspaper.

The B.A.R. strives to prioritize coverage of stories that mainstream media may overlook: anti-gay discrimination in employment and housing; bias and fear of people with HIV/AIDS; victims of abuse and anti-gay violence; the plight of at-risk youth; and the unmet needs of LGBT elders. Our articles have given voice to the vulnerable and are a record of our history.

San Francisco Public Press

The San Francisco Public Press is a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization that publishes independent public-interest journalism about under-covered topics, with a focus on historically under-served audiences. Online and on community radio station KSFP-FM and our “Civic” podcast, we offer local investigative and solutions reporting. Coverage areas include environmental protection, housing affordability, public health, transportation safety, homeless services, digital privacy, immigration and elections.

Metro Silicon Valley

Metro Silicon Valley is a free weekly newspaper published by the San Jose, California-based Weeklys media group. The paper serves the greater Silicon Valley area, encompassing the cities of San Jose, Los Gatos, Campbell, Saratoga, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Milpitas, Mountain View, Los Altos and Palo Alto. It distributes free copies throughout the valley in business districts, universities such as Stanford and at well-known Silicon Valley companies.

Hyperlocal news sites

The Redwood City Pulse is a news and information website that provides breaking news about local government, crime, business, arts and entertainment, and opinion. The Pulse is part of Embarcadero Media, which operates news websites and newspapers on the Peninsula, including the Palo Alto Weekly/Online, The Almanac, which covers Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley and Woodside, and the Mountain View Voice. Reporters are local and the websites are updated frequently.

A nationwide network of hyperlocal news sites, Patch Media covers over 1,000 locations with little more than 100 reporters.