2026 THRIVE | Local News & Information
Hi neighbors,
Happy Local News Day — a national day of action to uplift trusted local news and information. If you care about being plugged in to your community — from arts and culture events to public safety, high school sports to local elections — then you care about local news: it’s a critical component of thriving communities, and it’s in crisis.
There is a plan for that, and Whatcom County could help lead the way. Read on to learn how community foundations across the state are joining forces to strengthen the state’s local news ecosystem – and how you can help make sure Whatcom County’s local news and information landscape is strong.
Mauri Ingram,
President & CEO
COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITY
Ensure everyone in Whatcom County has access to the information they need to thrive.
Reliable, relevant local news is foundational to civic life, to everyday life. It helps people make informed decisions about local issues, hold leaders accountable, celebrate successes, discover new experiences, and participate in the place they call home. Yet most of “the news” today is national, highly fragmented, takes effort to gather and synthesize, and is often behind a paywall.
As traditional media outlets struggle across the country, “local news deserts” are on the rise, including in Washington state. And while Whatcom County is somewhat of an outlier, with local media outlets working hard to forge viable, community-centered models, access to local news and information remains tenuous.
Consider:
- Although Lynden Tribune still circulates printed copies weekly, Whatcom County lost its last newspaper printing press in 2025 when The Lynden Tribune and Print Company joined other area newspapers in printing in Skagit County. The Bellingham Herald has significantly reduced staff, sold its landmark building in 2009 and has reduced paper editions, printed in Skagit County, to twice a week.
- Nearly one-third of Washington’s news outlets belong to national chains, many of which are beholden to large financial firms whose priority is profit.
- A significant proportion of outlets have an annual operating budget of less than $250,000.
- Coverage of state politics in Olympia used to be handled by 16 full and part-time reporters statewide. As of 2022, it was down to five. Five journalists cover 49 senators and 98 representatives, hundreds of employees who work in numerous agencies, and scores of bills introduced every legislative session.
- Washington state newsrooms lost 67% of their workers from 2005 to 2020.
“The consequences of this crisis are severe, including decreased civic engagement and participation, decreased government transparency and accountability, increased low-quality information, and loss of social cohesion among community members as local news outlets close.” —News Deserts to Nonprofit Resilience: Assessing the Health of Washington’s Local News Ecosystem; The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, WSU
On the plus side:
- Two new publications, the nonprofit Salish Current (2020) and the Cascadia Daily News (2022) are contributing to the Whatcom County news and information landscape.
- Two, nonprofit, volunteer-operated stations KMRE and KAVZ offer local news and community affairs to Whatcom County listeners.
- The Northern Light newspaper (Blaine) successfully navigated owner retirement in 2025.
Philanthropy is not the sole answer but it is essential to exploring, launching and refining sustainable local news models – both for-profit and nonprofit – and community partnerships that keep community interests at their core
WHAT WE’RE DOING:
We’ve joined six other Washington-based community foundations to establish the Washington News Fund (WNF), a philanthropic partnership dedicated to ensuring every Washingtonian has access to reliable, relevant news and information. In 2025, WNF hired its founding director to lead the work of raising and distributing funds for research, business model development and infrastructure.
Serving as fiscal sponsor for WNF, whose work supports the full spectrum of local news needs statewide: strengthening trusted outlets, building shared infrastructure, advancing supportive policies, and investing in research and field-building.
Made grants to local news outlets including Salish Current, KMRE-LP (Bellingham) and KAVZ -LP (South Fork Nooksack Valley).
Connected LaConner Community News with LION Publishers to help ensure the preservation and continuity of Blaine-based The Northern Light newspaper as the owners navigated retirement.
Raising awareness about the importance of local news and information (whatever you care about, you need it!) and the WNF.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Learn more about the local news crisis, its causes, consequences and potential solutions. (See Research Reports in Deeper Dive)
Support local news – subscribe/donate/join; share their stories, connect with local journalists about issues that matter to the community.
Advocate – let community leaders know that local news is important to you.
Donate to the Whatcom Local News & Information Fund
Donate to the Washington News Fund
DEEPER DIVE:
American Journalism Project
The Washington News Fund
Press Forward
Research Reports:
Press Forward: This is Local News Now
League of Women Voters WA The Decline of Local News and Its Impact on Democracy
WSU: News Deserts to Nonprofit Resilience: Assessing the Health of Washington’s Local News Ecosystem; The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication. March 2025
UW: Statehouse Journalism in Transition, Insight form Olympia, Washington; Center for Journalism Media and Democracy
News about local news:
The Seattle Times: The Voices for a Free Press newsletter
The Seattle Times: Free Press articles (no paywall)
Washington State News Alliance (WSNA) Fresh Ground (Substack newsletter)
Note: WSNA is a sister organization to WNF that tracks and reports on the Washington local news ecosystem and helps illuminate challenges and opportunities.
Whatcom media changes in 2025:
A New Newspaper Blooms in LaConner: The Seattle Times
La Conner Publisher to Take Over The Northern Light: Cascadia Daily News
This is a Pivotal Moment for The Northern Light: The Northern Light
WCF emailed this THRIVE on Local News Day, 04/09/2026. View it online HERE>
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