Reimagining the Future of Local Journalism in Arizona with Chris Kline

Adrian McIntyre: 00:00:04

Local news is on the endangered species list in the United States of America. We've talked about this on this program. Back in November 20 24, Episode 42, we talked about the demise of local news and its impact on democracy. It's a pretty bleak picture, as more than half the counties in the United States do not have a source of local news informing people about what's happening in their own communities and helping them make informed decisions about their school boards, their state-level politics, and pretty much everything else. However, it's not all bleak. There are some bright spots and some exciting new developments. Abbie, what's on your mind?

Abbie Fink: 00:00:44

The opportunity to talk about local journalism is always so important to me. When we talk about the impact of local journalism, when we're sharing with our clients, and really the ability for the journalists and our local newsrooms, whether we're talking about some of the larger dailies or the community publications across the state, these are the individuals that are really bringing forth the stories that matter to the communities and they are so critically important.

And as an industry, as a public relations industry, we need to invest in these local newsrooms from a subscription base, we need to provide support from an advertising base, we need to consider them when we are pitching our stories. We really need to make an investment in the work that they're doing. I'm really excited today that we're going to be talking about this amazing initiative that's happening here in Arizona.

I'm excited to bring Chris Kline onto the podcast today. He's president and CEO of the Arizona Media Association and Arizona Local News Foundation to talk about an initiative that was launched earlier this year that's impacting our local newsrooms and really putting a focus on an important topic here in Arizona regarding education. So Chris, thanks for coming on with us today and sharing a little bit about this new program that you launched in our local newsrooms across the state.

Chris Kline: 00:02:09

It is my pleasure. We are trying to innovate. I can't promise we got all the answers, but there are exciting things happening in Arizona, and that is worth celebrating.

Abbie Fink: 00:02:18

So tell me a little bit about this program. I read an article in one of our local newspapers early part of this year that announced that the foundation, the Arizona Local News Foundation, was funding a multi-year program with, at the time, 15 local newsrooms to expand journalism, to expand the opportunity to report on education solutions in Arizona. So tell me a little bit more about that and where the program is right now.

Chris Kline: 00:02:47

Absolutely. Let me give you the backstory so you understand how we get to where we're at today. Over the last couple of years, we have formed and rebuilt an Arizona Media Association in the state that more or less creates a coalition of nearly 400 brands, some of which do news, some of which focus on community connections, some of whom do music, some of whom are digital startups. It's basically a coalition that brings together the entirety of the local community media community as it exists today. And I continue to believe we are the only state in the country that has thus far broken down some of those historic legacy platform barriers and created this statewide coalition.

That coalition has allowed us to create scale in order to start experimenting with new, big, bold projects. The first big, bold project we launched was to create an Arizona Local News Foundation, which we did about 18 months ago. The whole purpose of the foundation is to figure out what are the levers we can pull to connect communities all across the state of Arizona with access to more news and information.

It's not about supporting any one brand. It's not about anything other than making sure that you and me, as citizens and residents of Arizona, have access to the information that helps us live a safer, better, happier life in the state. That creation has allowed us to go start talking to community leaders all across the state about how we pull that off.

And the project that you're referencing is the marquee project we are so proud of right now. We call it the Arizona Community Collaborative. The collaborative exists to basically reshape conversation and impact for the biggest issues facing the state of Arizona. And in the starting point realm, "education solutions" is where we are putting our whole focus.

Last fall, we spent, gosh, months and months going up to philanthropic partners, folks who are passionate about education, groups that are passionate about supporting communities, and were able to raise a little over $2 million. And with that $2 million, we're doing two things.

Number one, we're funding a dramatic expansion in journalism across the state, fully focused on basically beat journalism about education solutions. All you got to do is go back 10 or 15 years to remember a world where there were beat journalists left and right on all sorts of topics. I think anybody listening knows that the world has shifted. As business models have changed, as reporters have become general assignment, we have lost some of the focus on these issues. And this program is meant to help support that by investing in coverage that is solely focused on a topic like education solutions that's so important to the state.

The other thing that this program, this collaborative, is doing is it using PSA ad inventory all across the state in order to tell the story of education solutions that are already out there. And so we're working with the funders of this program that have public service messaging about how to get access to free tutoring or how to use a 529 program or what is a CTE high school, a career in technical education high school.

It's meant to be a one-two punch of let's flood the marketplace with storytelling, new journalism, these 15 journalists that you talked about. Let's get kitchen table conversation dramatically increased, which bubbles up into all sorts of things, we hope legislative solutions as well. And then from the other side, let's flood the ad airwaves with as much PSA-style messaging as we can about education and use the unique megaphone that is this new association with 400 media brands that want to be a part of it to create the type of change we're all hungry for and I think probably equally frustrated about hasn't come to life yet.

Abbie Fink: 00:06:43

So let me dive in a little bit on the concept, first of all of education solutions. Talk a little bit about what we mean by that. And specifically from the journalistic perspective, the journalists that you are funding in the different newsrooms, in terms of what are they seeking, what kind of information are they going to be bringing forth in the pages of their newspapers or over their airwaves? From an editorial perspective, as it relates to education solutions, what does that mean to the reader when they see a story that's produced out of this initiative?

Chris Kline: 00:07:19

Most importantly, it means that we wanted to get away from the political hot potato conversations. We wanted to move away from the politics and the blame game. And the word solutions is intentionally in everything we talk about. It's not just education reporting, it's education solutions reporting with intent. And what we mean by that is storytelling not just about what's working in communities all across the state, but new ideas that need to be explored, conversations about things happening elsewhere in the country that should be brought here, outside of the politics. Solutions that, either from a legislative or a community standpoint, could help improve our 3rd-grade reading levels or graduation rates or college post-secondary attainment. All of those things.

It's meant to be a big tent. And again, I think the key is that we have defined from a parameter standpoint that the only no-go with this journalism is that if it turns into politics or if it turns into gosh, every third day, this reporter being funded by this collaborative has to fill in for somebody else or go cover a story unrelated to education solutions. That doesn't work. And in the spirit of the $2 million that we've raised, we have an obligation to the public and we've got an obligation to our philanthropic partners.

So our pledge, and the newsrooms that are coming on board to be a part of this have pledged, that they're all in on hiring a new full time employee in their newsroom to report 100% of the time about education solutions storytelling. And in tangible terms, 15 newsrooms is where we have started, and we actually are in the process of adding a couple of more right now.

But what that means is that scaled out across the state, that's going to be hundreds of stories a month. Hundreds of stories a month that are on TV stations, radio stations, newspapers, digital-only brands that are going to show up in your social media feeds.

And I keep using the line kitchen table conversation because our goal is that we want this storytelling to bubble up so that it becomes just part of the way we all talk about how we support our kids, how we support ourselves, how we support our families.

And in this AI world, it's not just about our young people. It's also about what are the solutions that you and I over the next 10, 20 or 30 years need to be thinking about as our economy changes, as the jobs available change. And in a place like Arizona that in so many ways has become a tech hub, is that going to change our world? What do we need to think about and do about to prepare for that?

Abbie Fink: 00:09:54

Now, when a consumer is flipping the pages of one of the newspapers that's part of this initiative or flips on their television and sees one of the news stories, will they know that this particular story is as a result of this important initiative? Or is it just straight up editorial runs as though any other story in that publication?

Chris Kline: 00:10:18

One thing that consumers will notice is that depending upon the medium, all partners in this collaborative acknowledge that this is part of the Arizona Community Collaborative through the Arizona Local News Foundation. That might be an addendum in a radio story or an italic line in an online story or a print story. The reason for that is because since we have outside funding, we want to live up to that journalism of independence and transparency. Not that there's anything funky or questionable about the funders, but because we've found philanthropic partners, we want to live up to our mission of making sure this is good, strong, independent journalism.

Abbie Fink: 00:10:55

And you did say that these journalists, these are newly created positions and therefore new staff has been brought in. So in addition to bringing forth this important information, you've also provided additional jobs in the journalism field, which those of us that watch newsrooms shrinking should be thrilled to know that there are opportunities for this type of work.

Chris Kline: 00:11:21

I think that part's key too, because I don't think we can say it enough. It's not like a newsroom here could say, "oh, I was going to cut a position, but now I can save it." These are new additive roles. Fifteen new journalists that didn't exist in the state just a couple of months ago, that are not just going to be around now for a couple of weeks or a couple of months or a year. But as you mentioned in the intro, we're also committing to funding these journalists for the next 24 months, the next two years, and that is with intention to ensure the candidates that are applying for these jobs are of high caliber and high quality. Because, gosh, I wouldn't want to take a job if I knew the funding was gonna run out after six, nine or 12 months. So two years is that sweet spot.

Abbie Fink: 00:12:07

And how--this is the public relations practitioner in me--how do we share information with these journalists? I'm certain they're investigating their own sources and finding stories, but there are so many amazing stories to be told. How will people share what's working in their particular environment regarding education solutions and what will be the process by which, externally, we can help share the good stories with these journalists?

Chris Kline: 00:12:34

I think that's such an important question because this fails if it takes six or nine months for these journalists to go build relationships and find the connections needed, because we will have wasted six to nine months of this two-year period. So there are two things that we're doing to answer your question.

The first is that we are hosting quarterly events with these journalists and with education leaders from across the state. We recently were at the Helios Education Foundation in Phoenix and brought together 50 journalists. And when I say 50, I mean the new journalists we're hiring as well as journalists from the local media community that are bought-in to this education solutions mission and are participating in the cause. So that's hugely helpful and creates a larger megaphone. So half of those hundred folks came from the journalism space. The other half came from the education space, whether it's from the government space, whether it's from the nonprofit space, the public sector, all of those pieces of the puzzle.

We brought everybody together to network, to build relationships, to share data and storytelling. And we're going to keep doing that quarter after quarter. And we're going to turn it into a roadshow across the state because we don't want to just get caught in the Phoenix bubble, even though that's where the vast majority of the state's population is.

The other thing that we are doing is we got a list of all of these journalists, and we will happily and freely share it with anybody listening that wants to contact these journalists because they got a great story idea. You can send us an email. It's just [email protected]. You want that list? Send us the note, ask for it. We will get you in touch with any one of these journalists.

The other thing I'm really proud about with this program is that the journalists that are being funded through this program truly are all across the state. They are, you know, to use an example, they're at a newspaper in Flagstaff, they're at a radio station in Yuma, they're at a TV station in Tucson, they are at a digital startup in Phoenix. And that is with intention as well, in this fragmented world where we know that no one platform anymore is the end all, be all solution to reaching mass audiences. And so if we want to be successful, we got to be everywhere and we got to try to make sure that we're telling these stories in as many different ways as possible too.

Abbie Fink: 00:14:53

Well, and that's intriguing to me, especially given how consumers consume news in so many different ways. You know, the newspaper on the front doorstep or in my handheld device, we get our information in so many different ways at different times during the day. And I think if we're going to make an impact, especially on a topic as important as education solutions, we really do have to meet the readership, the listenership, where they are, and provide them opportunity to see these important stories in whatever format that might come.

You had mentioned, in addition to the journalistic environment and creating stories and editorial opportunities, that there is also an investment from these newsrooms from a public service perspective and that they are supporting it with additional space in their media outlet for these important messages. So talk a little bit about how that commitment is working and what kind of information will be shared from the public service side.

Chris Kline: 00:15:52

Yeah. So I think this is another example of where the scale of the new media association we built a couple of years ago, 400 media brands that participate in this collaborative and coalition, as well as the goodwill to come together knowing that if we want to tackle big challenges, we got to work together. So we have an ad network that runs all across the Arizona Media Association that's fully focused on public service style messaging. And it basically sets aside ad inventory for public service messaging about whatever topic is needed.

We're dedicating a good chunk of that inventory, thanks to agreements and partnerships from media brands across the state, to have 30-second ads that start running about things like what we've been talking about, and to have full-page and quarter-page ads in newspapers start talking about this, or display ads. And again, I think it's our effort to double down on fragmented world means no one story in no one place is going to be the end all, be all solution. That's why we are funding this journalism in so many different types of newsrooms, why we're adding on the advertising layer.

And I'll also add that while education is our launch focus, and it's arguably the single most important topic because it touches everything else we do in life, right? If we're not, if we don't have the tools we need, we can't build anything else. But we want to take this model, and we're actively working to move and add journalists and other topics too, whether it's healthcare or climate or water.

And I think the scalability of what we have done here is something really fascinating that we're trying to leverage. And to take the, you know, we gotta gut-check and pinch ourselves, too, and remember that we raised $2 million in philanthropy in just a handful of months. That is not normal. That is magical. And I think that speaks to the unique community project that we've been able to design and innovate on and also the partnership that so many local media brands have agreed to come in on.

It wouldn't work if we didn't have local media partners that all said, "yes, this collaborative is necessary and it's critical to the future of our state and it's what we want to invest our time in as a newsroom." That gets me up in the morning and has me super excited as well. Because as we continue to knock on doors at philanthropic groups and talk to community leaders, it's a really easy story to tell to say, "We want to go solve some of the biggest problems in the state. We have a megaphone which is 400 media brands strong. We have ad inventory available to help tell that story. And we now have a track record of hiring 15+ journalists in the state who are going to go all in on a topic that, just candidly, wasn't getting enough coverage."

Abbie Fink: 00:18:44

And I think that might be one of the most powerful components of this is really the collaborative nature of the project. And that these newsrooms that are competing on a daily basis for good stories, are competing for advertising dollars, are competing for subscriptions, for viewership, for readership, have said this is an important initiative to participate in because of the topic. And I wholeheartedly believe that the role of journalists and the role of the news media is to bring forth important information to the consumers. And for this level of organizations to commit to doing this and doing it in a very cooperative nature is a pretty powerful statement. And I think really speaks well to our colleagues in the media here that they recognize a topic as important as education.

And those others that you mentioned that are future plans, really is what their role is supposed to be, which is to bring forth information to consumers so that we can make smart decisions and make smart investments in the things that are important to us because of this unbiased, objective, thoughtful reporting and information sharing that comes from the members of the press. And I think the fact that they've agreed to work in tandem and cooperatively is a pretty powerful statement to the success of the initiative in the future, for where it can go.

Chris Kline: 00:20:06

To that point, one of the statistics I'd love to share with you comes from an annual media research study we fund. Once a year we hire an LA-based company to go audit how are Arizona consumers using media today? Because it changes so fast. And we dove into trust as one of the topics in the 20 25 study. And there was one statistic in particular that I think is the biggest opportunity in front of us. And that is when it comes to what is the percentage of people that say they have trust in local news--we're not talking about cable news, we're not talking about national news. We're talking about the local news in your community.

And the number is astonishing because it's 86%. If we still have trust in the people in our community that are telling us about what's happening on the most local level, and we can take a collaborative like this and take that 15 journalists on education, maybe we can turn it into 30 before the end of the year on education. Maybe we can double down on healthcare and add another 40 or 50 journalists.

We also rebuild local news from the inside out. And we have the opportunity to reimagine what the future of news in Arizona can look like. And as a state that prides itself on innovation, on being the maverick, on trying new things and leading the way, I couldn't be more proud to be a part of a project like this one.

Adrian McIntyre: 00:21:27

Thanks for listening to this episode of Copper State of Mind. If you enjoyed the conversation, please share it with a colleague who might also find this podcast valuable. It's easy to do, just click the "Share" button in the app you're listening to now to pass it along. You can also follow Copper State of Mind in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcast app. We publish new episodes every other Friday.

Copper State of Mind is brought to you by HMA Public Relations, the oldest continuously operating PR firm in Arizona. The show is recorded and produced by the team at Speed of Story, a B2B communications firm firm in Phoenix, and distributed by PHX.fm, the leading independent B2B podcast network in Arizona.

For all of us here at Speed of Story and PHX.fm, I'm Adrian McIntyre. Thanks for listening and for sharing the show with others if you choose to do so. We hope you'll join us again for another episode of Copper State of Mind.