# Where we're building newsrooms ## Live newsrooms [Alaska News ↗ (opens in a new tab)](https://alaskanews.com) Alaska, statewide · alaskanews.com Borough assemblies, school board sessions, public hearings and statewide politics, published daily. [Profile](https://communities.news/communities/alaska-news) · [Scorecard](https://communities.news/communities/alaska-news/neutrality) · [Coverage](https://communities.news/communities/alaska-news/coverage) Beyond Alaska, we run **foundation sites**. Each is a civic guide to a region we are studying for a future newsroom. It shows who governs there and when they meet. It shows where to watch, where to find agendas and minutes, and how to take part. Each site also says plainly that no journalism is happening there yet. Together they track 240 governing bodies, and pages are added most weekdays. ## Foundation sites ### [Central Appalachia News](https://communities.news/communities/central-appalachia-news) Southern West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, southwest Virginia, and northeast Tennessee Scorecard: 5 outlets, 220 articles scored [Scorecard](https://communities.news/communities/central-appalachia-news/neutrality) · [Coverage map](https://communities.news/communities/central-appalachia-news/coverage) · [centralappalachia.news ↗ (opens in a new tab)](https://centralappalachia.news) ### [Eastern Washington News](https://communities.news/communities/eastern-washington-news) Spokane, the Tri-Cities, Yakima, and the Palouse Scorecard: 4 outlets, 160 articles scored [Scorecard](https://communities.news/communities/eastern-washington-news/neutrality) · [Coverage map](https://communities.news/communities/eastern-washington-news/coverage) · [easternwashington.news ↗ (opens in a new tab)](https://easternwashington.news) ### [Hawaii Islands News](https://communities.news/communities/hawaii-islands-news) The Hawaiian Islands, all four counties Scorecard: 5 outlets, 269 articles scored [Scorecard](https://communities.news/communities/hawaii-islands-news/neutrality) · [Coverage map](https://communities.news/communities/hawaii-islands-news/coverage) · [hawaiiislands.news ↗ (opens in a new tab)](https://hawaiiislands.news) ### [Inland SoCal News](https://communities.news/communities/inland-socal-news) The Inland Empire: Riverside and San Bernardino counties Scorecard: 5 outlets, 156 articles scored [Scorecard](https://communities.news/communities/inland-socal-news/neutrality) · [Coverage map](https://communities.news/communities/inland-socal-news/coverage) · [inlandsocal.news ↗ (opens in a new tab)](https://inlandsocal.news) ### [Lehigh Valley PA News](https://communities.news/communities/lehigh-valley-pa-news) Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton, Pennsylvania Scorecard: 4 outlets, 153 articles scored [Scorecard](https://communities.news/communities/lehigh-valley-pa-news/neutrality) · [Coverage map](https://communities.news/communities/lehigh-valley-pa-news/coverage) · [lehighvalleypa.news ↗ (opens in a new tab)](https://lehighvalleypa.news) ### [The Long Island News](https://communities.news/communities/the-long-island-news) Nassau and Suffolk counties, New York Scorecard: 3 outlets, 148 articles scored [Scorecard](https://communities.news/communities/the-long-island-news/neutrality) · [Coverage map](https://communities.news/communities/the-long-island-news/coverage) · [thelongisland.news ↗ (opens in a new tab)](https://thelongisland.news) ### [Ozarks News](https://communities.news/communities/ozarks-news) Southwest Missouri: Springfield, Joplin, and Branson Scorecard: 3 outlets, 127 articles scored [Scorecard](https://communities.news/communities/ozarks-news/neutrality) · [Coverage map](https://communities.news/communities/ozarks-news/coverage) · [ozarks.news ↗ (opens in a new tab)](https://ozarks.news) ### [Central Valley News](https://communities.news/communities/central-valley-news) California's Central Valley, Stockton to Bakersfield Scorecard: checking which outlets we can measure [centralvalley.news ↗ (opens in a new tab)](https://centralvalley.news) ### [North Arkansas News](https://communities.news/communities/north-arkansas-news) Northwest Arkansas: Bentonville, Fayetteville, Springdale, and Rogers Scorecard: checking which outlets we can measure [northarkansas.news ↗ (opens in a new tab)](https://northarkansas.news) ### [Rio Grande Valley News](https://communities.news/communities/rio-grande-valley-news) The Rio Grande Valley of south Texas Scorecard: checking which outlets we can measure [riograndevalley.news ↗ (opens in a new tab)](https://riograndevalley.news) ### [Upstate NY News](https://communities.news/communities/upstate-ny-news) Upstate New York, Buffalo to Albany Scorecard: checking which outlets we can measure [upstateny.news ↗ (opens in a new tab)](https://upstateny.news) ## How the markets compare In every market we measure, the middle of the tracked outlets shows no clear tilt, though each market's middle sits slightly left of center. Markets differ more on checking: the middle of Lehigh Valley's outlets scores 1.4 of 4, and Eastern Washington's scores 2.15. \[Chart: Each market with a scorecard, placed at the middle of its tracked outlets on which way coverage tilts and how often reporters check what officials say\] \[Chart: Each market with a scorecard, placed at the middle of its tracked outlets on which way coverage tilts and how often reporters check what officials say\] **How to read this:** each dot is one market, placed at the middle of the outlets we track there, taken separately on each measure, so a dot need not match any one outlet. We track a handful of each region's largest outlets, not every outlet. Left to right is which way coverage tilts, zoomed to -0.75 to +0.75 of the full -3 to +3 scale. Between the dashed lines is no clear tilt, under 0.5 either way. Up is how often reporters check what officials say, from 0 to 4, zoomed to 1 to 2.5\. The corner colors match each scorecard's market map. We cannot yet tell whether the slight lean left of center is in the outlets or in our panel of AI judges. Scoring started on different days: 2026-09-29, 2026-10-31, 2026-11-01. Tap a market, or move to it with Tab and press Enter, to see how far its outlets spread and to open its scorecard. Not yet measured: Central Valley, North Arkansas, Rio Grande Valley, Upstate NY. ## Why build a site before a newsroom Two reasons. First, a guide to a region's local government is useful to residents on its own. Most of these bodies have never had their meeting schedules, agenda pages and rules for public comment collected in one place. Second, a newsroom's web address should start building a history before the first article. The foundation site and the newsroom are the same site at different stages. A meeting page that lists a body and its schedule today will hold a transcript later, at the same address. ## These are experiments Eleven regions today, deliberately different in shape: a metro, a farm valley, an island state, a border region, a mountain plateau. Each is a hypothesis about where a community newsroom should exist, not an announcement that one will. As we learn, the list will change and grow into other markets. ## The next one The next market does not have to come from our research. If your community has a hole where a newsroom should be, the strongest signal is someone local who wants to close it. [Start a local news community](https://communities.news/communities/new) shows how, and [A Newsroom for Your Community](https://communities.news/for-your-community) covers what the platform provides. ## Reach the reporting from an agent The newsrooms are open to AI agents as well as readers. Our [agent skills](https://communities.news/skills) give Claude or any other agent read-only access to a newsroom's articles, sources, meeting transcripts and events, starting with Alaska News. The skills are free to install, and the same skill reaches any newsroom the platform adds.