The Falls City Journal is excited to announce the newspaper has been selected to participate in a prestigious national initiative focused on the future of community journalism in rural America.
Over the coming weeks, Falls City Journal staff, readers, advertisers and community members will work together as part of an important national effort examining how local newspapers can remain strong, sustainable and community focused for generations to come.
The project brings together newspaper leaders, journalism researchers and rural communities to help develop new models for local journalism at a time when newspapers across the country continue facing enormous challenges.
Teri Finneman, a journalism professor at the University of Kansas and co-author of Reviving Rural News: Transforming the Business Model of Community Journalism in the U.S. and Beyond, will be leading the initiative.
Finneman, who has worked with newspapers across the Midwest as part of the initiative, said communities selected for the project are chosen carefully.
“Falls City was a clear choice to be the next selection in this national project,” said Finneman, who is originally from a town of 2,500 in western North Dakota. “I was very impressed with how dedicated everyone on the staff is with serving this community. With the community’s help, we can really make the newspaper a beacon for others across the country to follow.”
The initiative will include community surveys, focus groups and public discussions designed to gather feedback from residents of all backgrounds and perspectives. Organizers said public participation will play a major role in helping shape future decisions and priorities for the newspaper.
The Falls City Journal is among only a limited number of newspapers nationwide given this incredible opportunity, which has already strengthened newspapers in North Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska and Kansas.
Falls City Journal publishers Brian and Nikki McKim said they are honored to have the newspaper chosen and believe the opportunity represents something much larger than the newspaper itself.
“This is a major opportunity not just for the Journal, but for our entire community,” said Nikki McKim. “We are incredibly proud that Falls City was selected to help lead conversations about the future of local journalism and rural communities.”
Since taking ownership of the Falls City Journal in September 2024, the McKim’s have focused heavily on investing in the newspaper.
“We truly believe in this newspaper and in our community,” Brian McKim said. “This initiative gives residents a chance to directly help shape the future of their newspaper. That is exciting and incredibly important”
Take the survey HERE
At a time when many rural newspapers are disappearing, Falls City has been given an opportunity to help shape what the future of community journalism could look like locally and nationwide.
“The business model most newspapers still rely on was developed in 1833, when Andrew Jackson was president,” Finneman said. “It assumed news should be dirt cheap and endlessly subsidized by advertising. That model no longer works. No other business could survive on a 200-year-old structure. Newspapers have to change, and we need the community’s support to do so.”
