But this appeared almost in an instant when Craig Newmark started Craigslist.

It was free, on the web, and sortable.

Add to that, corporate greed, consolidation by chains like Annette Media, which took on a lot of debt,

and have laid off journalists, sold buildings, closed down papers,

and created ghost papers with no staff.

Hey there, I'm Kimberly Atkins Store, and welcome to Justice By Design, the podcast that takes a look

at the problems that we face as a society and talks to the people who are

finding real solutions for them. And one thing that people who have listened to this podcast

or who follow me on social media know is how deeply I care about not just the news industry

writ large, which I do, but particularly local news.

I am lucky enough to have spent most of my career at local and regional publications, and I know

the importance of them, but they're also facing a really, really hard time right now.

And that's why I'm so thrilled to be joined today

by two people who are doing very good work in this space. Ellen Clegg and Dan Kennedy of co-authors

of the book What Works in Community News, media startups, news, deserts, and the future of the Fourth Estate.

Ellen and Dan, thank you so much for joining me today.

Thanks for having us.

Thank you.

So I want to give each of you a chance to introduce yourselves a little bit and to introduce the What Works Project, which is much more than a book.

Why don't you start with you, Dan?

Well, I am a professor in the journalism school at Northeastern University, and before that I spent many years as the media columnist for the late, much lamented Boston Phoenix,

which was our big alternative weekly here in Boston.

...