October 19, 2026  |  By Michael DeCinti

Your local newspaper is still one of your best communications tools

While everyone chases the next social media platform, one of the most trusted channels in your community is hiding in plain sight, and it needs you as much as you need it.

Ask most nonprofit or healthcare leaders where they want more visibility, and you'll hear about Instagram, LinkedIn, maybe a podcast. Ask them about their local newspaper, and you'll often get a shrug. Who reads the paper anymore?

More people than you think. And the ones who do are often exactly the people you most want to reach.

Local news is shrinking, and that's the opportunity

There's no sugarcoating the state of local journalism. Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism tracks it every year, and its 2026 report is sobering:

Over the past two decades, the number of newsroom employees at American newspapers has fallen from about 75,000 to roughly 29,000. The papers that remain are doing the same job with a fraction of the people.

That's a real loss for communities. But it also means something important for organizations like yours: editors need good, local, reliable content more than ever. A well-written, genuinely useful column from a credible local expert isn't an imposition on a stretched newsroom. It's a gift.

Why it's worth your time

Local news still carries something most channels have lost: trust. According to the Pew Research Center, about 70% of Americans trust the information they get from local news organizations, compared with 56% for national news. And 80% say local news outlets are important to the well-being of their community.

Think about who still reads the local paper, in print or online. Community leaders. Elected officials. Board members. Longtime donors. Older adults and the families who care for them. For a nonprofit, a health system, or a public agency, that's not a fading audience. It's the core of your support.

And unlike a social post that disappears from the feed in a day, a column lives on: in the paper's archive, in search results, and on the refrigerator door of the reader who clipped it.

What I learned writing a column

For two health and wellness organizations I worked for, I wrote a column every two weeks for a local newspaper. The rule was simple and non-negotiable: the columns could not be advertisements. No pitches, no "call us today," no thinly disguised promotions.

Instead, I wrote about things readers actually wanted to know: practical, informative health and wellness topics they could use in their own lives. The only mention of the organization was in my byline, which listed my title and where I worked.

That's the quiet power of a column. You're not buying attention. You're earning credibility, and the paper's own credibility rubs off on you.

How to make it work for your organization

1. Find the right outlet. Look beyond the big daily. Community weeklies, regional magazines, and local online news sites are often the most receptive, and their readers are deeply engaged with their own towns.
2. Pitch a column, not a press release. Send the editor a short note proposing a regular column, with three sample topics, a suggested length and schedule, and one finished sample. Make saying yes easy.
3. Serve the reader, never sell. Editors can spot an advertorial instantly, and so can readers. Your expertise is the value. The byline handles the rest.
4. Be the most reliable contributor they have. Hit every deadline, stick to the word count, and turn in clean copy. In a newsroom running on a skeleton crew, dependability is what keeps your column running.
5. Pick a writer with real authority. The byline should belong to someone with genuine expertise, such as an executive director, a clinician, or a program leader. If they don't have time to write, a communications professional can help shape their ideas into their voice.
6. Extend the reach. Once a column runs, share it on LinkedIn, in your newsletter, and with your board and donors. Ask the paper about republishing it on your own website, and credit the paper when you do.

A column isn't the only door, either. Guest op-eds, letters to the editor, and becoming a go-to expert source when reporters need a quote all build the same kind of credibility.

Don't overlook what's right in front of you

The flashiest channel isn't always the most effective one. Your local newspaper offers something that's hard to find anywhere else: an engaged local audience, a built-in reputation for trust, and editors who genuinely need what you know. For mission-driven organizations, that's a rare combination, and one worth showing up for every two weeks.