WPBizDev is a membership site aimed at WordPress business owners. They’ve just published a very solid article by Lawrence Ladomery called “Local news publishing – an opportunity for WordPress product businesses?“
Lawrence highlights something we often talk about: almost the entire local news ecosystem runs on WordPress. He pulls data from The State of Local News reports, an initiative by Northwestern University:
Two thirds of the the 146 news websites listed … are powered by WordPress
Lawrence also hits on another favorite topic here at KinshiPress. There is a lot of overlap between the goals of WordPress and local news publishers:
The general consensus, as reiterated by The State of Local News, is that local news publications play a critical role in a healthy democracy. The American Journalism Project reminds us that: “Research shows that the loss of local news is having an insidious effect on our democracy — contributing to polarization, decrease in voting, and government accountability. Local news is an essential lever to a healthy democracy; it helps communities understand what’s at stake in local elections, equips them to get involved in the political process by voting, contacting officials and running for office, reduces political polarization, and holds public officials accountable.” WordPress’ mission is complements this: to Democratize Publishing. That is, to remove the barriers between technology and the ability share a voice. In this case, to report on local news.
Lawrence ends with a little skepticism about local news as a big business opportunity, but he concludes that it’s a very impactful space and there may be opportunities:
My view is that there are more positive than negative signals about the future of local news. I also think that WordPress is very much part of the solution, both as a platform and as an alternative model to Big Tech.
