“Local news is vital to the practice and preservation of our democracy.”

Lauren Williams|CEO of Capital B

Art by Raven Jiang for Henry Luce Foundation

In Episode 3 of Luce Change, we explore what happens when the media neglects the communities they are meant to serve. We also examine what it takes to rebuild journalism from the ground up: with care, trust, and accountability.

Recorded live at MacDowell’s New York City offices and moderated by Luce Interim President Sean Buffington, this episode features three visionary journalists who are reshaping the field. They focus not on scale or spectacle, but on deep engagement, personal experience, and community-rooted storytelling.

Lauren Williams, co-founder and CEO of Capital B, discusses how her newsroom prioritizes Black communities by fostering trust, proximity, and local leadership.

Tristan Ahtone, editor-at-large at Grist and former president of the Indigenous Journalists Association, shares insights on the difference between reporting about Native communities and reporting for them, highlighting how Indigenous journalism embodies self-determination.

Jin Ding, a Pulitzer Center alum and former executive at Initium Media, examines how journalism for the Chinese centers overlooked perspectives and connects transnational communities through shared context, care, and language.

From 2005 to 2021, over 2,200 local newspapers in the U.S. have closed. This decline has not only eroded journalism but has also weakened democracy. Without access to credible, community-informed reporting, civic life struggles. Power goes unchecked, and important stories are lost.

These journalists remind us that local news is still a vital force. From housing investigations in Atlanta that resulted in policy reform to hyperlocal reporting on a group of Chinese “aunties” canvassing for Republican candidates in Amish Country, Central Pennsylvania, local journalism serves as a tool for memory, action, and accountability.

“Sometimes we say journalism is the first draft of history,” Jin Ding reflects. “But what if it’s the only draft?”

At the Henry Luce Foundation, we believe that journalism is crucial to the democratic process. We recently committed up to $25 million over the next two years to support democratic institutions and civil society. This includes a $1 million grant to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which provides legal resources at no cost to journalists nationwide. We are dedicated to ensuring that journalists can gather and report the news freely, safely, and in service to the communities they cover.

Listen to Luce Change episode 3 wherever you get your podcasts!