Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism announces 2026 fellows

Since 2015, more than 3,000 community news outlets have disappeared from the U.S. media landscape, creating sprawling news deserts. This study by the Local News Initiative at Northwestern University, projects further loss of local news creating a crisis of information in the coming years.

Determined to do its part to help stop this decline, the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism will focus this year’s Kiplinger Fellowship on “Saving Local News: A Practical Guide.” The fellowship, set to take place on Ohio University’s Athens campus from May 11-14, will host 32 fellows representing 17 states and four nations.

The fellows represent news leadership at small community publications, medium to large market TV newsrooms and a few niche publications.

Speakers for the fellowship will include experts from The Knight Foundation, Rebuild Local News, The American Press Institute, the Institute for Rural Journalism, the Local News Initiative, Press Forward and the Institute for Non-Profit News. Also featured will be news executive from local news groups in Michigan and Virginia. Ohio University faculty will also be involved throughout the week.

“While this fellowship has a decidedly U.S. contingent, the loss of local news is a global issue,” Kiplinger’s Executive Director Kevin Z. Smith said. “With each passing year, the struggles to maintain local news presence in many regions is overwhelming. Where we’ve seen local news outlets collapse, we’ve also seen a rise in people being disenfranchised from their local government, voting diminishes, political crimes rise, accountability is lost and these news vacuums lead to widespread misinformation.”

During the fellowship participants will discuss issues such as picking the best news model, making news decisions, fundraising, staffing, advertising, marketing and branding, subscriptions, using artificial intelligence and profit versus nonprofit models.

“It's a shame what is happening to local news right now, so I'm so happy to see an organization as credible as the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism take up the cause,” OHIO’s Scripps School of Journalism Director Hans Meyers said. “I worked in local news for nearly a decade before going to graduate school, and I saw firsthand how important what local news organizations cover is. I'm confident these fellows at the instructors Kiplinger have found will present real, actionable solutions to the crisis and underscore the indispensable need for journalist to cover the communities in which they live.”

The 2026 Kiplinger Fellows include:

• Audra Anderson, managing editor/news, Cascadia Daily News; Bellingham, Washington
• Ann Augherton, managing editor, Arlington Catholic Herald; Arlington, Virginia
• Toria Barnhart, deputy editor, The Park Record; Park City, Utah
• Natasha Barber, managing editor, Star Publications; Sauk Centre, Minnesota
• Nicholas Bechtel, assistant news editor, NBC4; Columbus, Ohio
• Katie Brandt, editor-in-chief, Chicago Health Magazine, Chicago, Illinois
• Chris Coates, senior director of local news, Lee Enterprises; Mechanicsville, Virginia
• Meghann Garcia, managing editor, Uvalde Leader-News; Uvalde, Texas
• Kenneth Garner, publisher, Garner Media Holdings;  Marysville, Missouri
• Jeff Gaye, publisher, Respect; Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada
• Dave Gould, president/CEO, Main Street Media of Tennessee; Nashville, Tennessee
• Christopher Gunty, associate publisher/editor, Catholic Review Media; Baltimore, Maryland
• Ashton Hagen, general manager, Grant County Herald; Elbow Lake, Minnesota
• Matthew T. Hall, deputy editor of investigations, inewsource; San Diego, California
• Faisal Karimi, publisher, Nowruz Media; San Francisco, California
• Tom Lappas, publisher, Henrico Citizen; Henrico County, Virginia
• Hyuntaek Lee, independent journalist, South Korea
• Julie Makinen, co-founder/board member, Coachella Valley Journalism Foundation; Palm Springs, California
• Jatara McGee, anchor/investigative reporter, WPXI; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Victor Parkins, publisher, Mirror-Exchange Media Group; Milan, Tennessee
• Geoffrey Plant, editor, Taos News; Taos, New Mexico
• Walter Smith Randolph, executive producer of investigations, CBS News New York; New York City
• Debbie Schimberg, founder and publisher, The Providence Eye; Providence, Rhode Island
• Andy Schotz, editor, The Frederick News-Post; Frederick, Maryland
• Jen Sieve-Hicks, editor/owner Buffalo Bulletin; Buffalo, Wyoming
• Elizabeth Stephens, executive editor, Columbia Missourian and Boone County Journal; Columbia, Missouri
• Matt Sullivan, chief operating officer, Spotlight Delaware; Wilmington, Delaware
• Becca Tucker, deputy publisher, Straus News; Chester, New York
• Anton van Zyl, publisher, Limpopo Mirror; Louis Trichardt (Makhado), South Africa
• Travis Weik, group editor, Southern Indiana News Group; New Castle, Indiana
• Tyra Whitney, news producer, WLS -TV; Chicago, Illinois
• Abel Escudero Zadrayec, founder and director, 8000; Bahía Blanca, Argentina