News media is in a precarious state, with 57 percent of Americans expressing little to no trust in journalists, according to a February Pew Research Center report.
Local journalism faces particular challenges. Northwestern University’s Local News Initiative found that nearly 40 percent of local newspapers in the U.S. have closed during the past two decades.
In metro Atlanta, the recent closure of Atlanta Civic Circle, which had lost its nonprofit status after failing to file IRS returns, and three rounds of layoffs at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution have added to concerns about the future of local news.
“What can we do to preserve journalism… to make sure that it’s an important part of our societal fabric?” Maria Saporta, founder and executive editor of SaportaReport, asked on social media this week.
Those are questions Dan Whisenhunt, founder of Decaturish, also considers. He believes the journalism industry has spent years trying to solve the wrong problem.
“The journalism is fine,” he said. “The revenue is the problem.”
Over the past decade, some news organizations have emerged as nonprofits or turned to fellowships as a way to sustain local journalism. But Whisenhunt believes that money “divides the pie,” takes away from for-profit funding, and does not address what he sees as the industry’s core challenge: revenue.
He believes local news organizations cannot survive unless they devote the same energy to generating revenue as they do to producing journalism.
“Nobody is coming to save us. Nobody. We have to save ourselves,” Whisenhunt said. ”Any model that depends on the kindness of strangers is not a model you can replicate.”
Whisenhunt said the industry spends significant resources training journalists but far less time developing the business and audience-building skills needed to sustain local news organizations.
“When is the last time you heard of someone graduating with a degree in digital sales?” he asked. “Whenever I hired a salesperson, I had to train each one to do digital sales.”
Whisenhunt founded Decaturish in 2013 and sold the digital news outlet to Appen Media in 2024, remaining on as editor.
Decaturish was profitable throughout its run as a digital-only publication, according to Whisenhunt, operating just above break-even, and continues to be successful today. He attributes that success to building a loyal readership and being accountable and available to the community during a time of stark political division.
Whisenhunt is a self-described “unrepentant liberal” yet many of Decaturish’s loyal readers and supporters are conservatives, he said.
“I think it’s because we’re covering their community and we show up for their community. They’re willing to support me on that basis,” he said.
Whisenhunt said residents notice when reporters consistently attend public meetings and cover issues affecting their neighborhoods.
“There’s a lot of power in having a reporter in the room,” he said.
News organizations must also be willing to engage with readers and explain their decisions, he added.
“I will answer questions about why we do things and the choices we made. A lot of publications don’t do that. When is the last time you saw the AJC explain why they ran a story, or any of the TV stations? They don’t defend their decisions publicly.”
Whisenhunt said he did not always embrace reader criticism but now sees it as an important part of producing better stories.
Whisenhunt sold Decaturish to Appen Media in 2024, in part because he wanted to expand the publication into print. He said he anticipated that outlets such as Rough Draft and others were planning to enter the market with print products, increasing competition for readers and advertisers.
Print remains important for older residents who still prefer a physical newspaper. Local news organizations must meet readers where they are, he said.
By joining Appen Media, Whisenhunt said he was able to expand the publication, “capture print revenue and fend off competitors.” Expanding into print on his own would have required taking on debt he was unwilling to assume, Whisenhunt said.
He was also baffled by the AJC’s decision to discontinue its print edition, saying that many of those readers have since turned to Decaturish. Whisenhunt predicts that the AJC will reverse course and will bring back a print product in some form in the coming months.
Despite the challenges facing local journalism, Whisenhunt remains optimistic about its future.
“Every community needs an arbiter of truth. Someone level-headed and fair-minded who can say this is true and that is not true,” he said. “We are that for our community.”
