The Media Power Collaborative is advancing the policies we need to put local news back in the hands of the people. 

Our ranks include media workers, community advocates, movement organizers, and researchers from across the country. Together, we’re creating a shared vision for the future of our media system – one that truly serves the public interest – and building the power we need to get there. 

We’re united by our belief that local media is far more than a commercial product. It’s a cornerstone of our civic and democratic health. Like safe roads and strong public schools, public-service journalism and civic information are public goods that benefit entire communities.

But right now, our local media system is suffering. Despite the efforts of many hard-working journalists, our communities are being bombarded by misinformation and clickbait with a shortage of local news that actually meets people’s needs. Giant corporations and hedge funds dominate our ailing channels of news and civic information. The endless profit-chasing and consolidation at the heart of our commercial media system has led to massive layoffs of journalists performing a key public service, and to a steady rise in sensationalist content.

Meanwhile, the sectors of our media system that are often closest to their communities – independent community publishers, nonprofit newsrooms, ethnic media outlets, and public media – are left to struggle over an inadequate pool of resources. As a result, our communities are left in the dark about what’s happening in their schools, in their streets, and in their halls of power. 

New practices and revenue models are critical, but they aren’t enough on their own. The decline of local news is a structural problem, and it calls for structural solutions. That’s why we’ve launched a bold policy agenda for local news, pushing for change at the state and local levels while laying the groundwork for a national movement. 

We’d love to have you along with us. Join by signing up here.

Getting Involved

Whether you’re a media worker, a community organizer, a researcher, a funder, or just someone who wants to support local news where you live, we know that your time is precious. There are multiple ways to get involved in the MPC, with ample room to increase your engagement: 

• We maintain an active email list to keep MPC members informed on the latest happenings related to local news policy. (We promise not to blow up your inbox!)
• We host virtual webinars and workshops roughly once a quarter, open to the whole MPC community. 
• We create and share resources to help you make sense of media policy. 
• We support state and local working groups across the country so that folks can drive policy change where they live. You can join an existing working group, or we’ll support you in starting your own.
  • We’re actively supporting groups in California, Illinois, and Massachusetts. MPC members are also actively engaged in Oregon, New Jersey, Washington, and D.C., among other states and cities.

Our History and How We’re Supported

The Media Power Collaborative was launched in 2022 as a project of News Futures , a collective of people, ideas and spaces focused on building a participatory and networked future for local news.

Amid the turmoil in the journalism industry over the past couple decades, there’s been extensive discussion of shifting economic models and new practices. Less discussed is the public policy side of local news’ decline – the policy decisions that helped shape our current conditions, in which newsrooms are under-resourced and communities are left in the dark, and the policy changes we need to support sustainable and community-rooted local media. The MPC was founded to build this collective understanding.   

Today, the MPC serves as a hub for organizing, strategy, and education in legislative debates across the country. 

The Media Power Collaborative is coordinated by Free Press, a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization fighting for your rights to connect and communicate. Free Press is working to create a world where people have the information and opportunities they need to tell their own stories, hold leaders accountable and participate in our democracy. Some of MPC’s work deals with general or specific analysis of possible or pending legislation, and as such is supported by Free Press Action Fund, a related, independent, autonomous, nonpartisan, 501(c)(4) organization.