2026 Kiplinger Fellows Announced
SAVING LOCAL NEWS FELLOWS ANNOUNCED
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 campus, 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.
“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,” OU 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