Henrico Citizen named one of 12 'Local News Bright Spots' nationally by Northwestern University's Local News Initiative
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The Henrico Citizen was named one of 12 Local News Bright Spots for 2025 by the Local News Initiative at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism Oct. 20.
The announcement came as part of the initiative's annual State of Local News report, which documents and tracks local news sources in the United States.
In naming the Citizen to its "Bright Spots" list, LNI spotlighted its creativity in finding new sources of revenue in order to remain free to all readers despite operating as a for-profit business.
In a lengthy Q&A with LNI, Citizen Publisher Tom Lappas explained how the publication managed to shift from its pre-COVID twice-monthly print-first schedule to a daily weekday fully digital format after the onset of the pandemic and how it has worked to expand its coverage and diversify its revenue, which previously was entirely advertising-based.
"[I]f you're not constantly trying to reinvent yourselves a little bit, then you get stale, and you kind of lose touch with what people want today as opposed to what they wanted 10 years ago," Lappas said. "It's trying to find that balance of what do people require of us versus what are we equipped to give them? You hope that there's a synergy there.
"I would want people to know that there are journalists who are doing this because we care about our communities. We want people to be informed."
The State of Local News report found that 136 newspapers closed in the United States in 2024 – about two each week – and that standalone digital-only news sites grew by 24.
The Bright Spots list, which included 12 publications nationwide, is designed as a way to spotlight local publications that are finding ways to survive and thrive despite the challenging climate for news organizations.
