# Start a local news community

Some places have public meetings nobody covers anymore: a school board, a borough assembly, a city council whose decisions reach every household and are reported by no one. Communities News exists to give those places a newsroom of their own, run by people who live there, on the same platform that runs [Alaska News](https://alaskanews.com) today.

Starting one begins with a conversation, not a sign-up form. Here is what it takes and how it goes.

## Is your community a fit?

You do not need a finished newsroom. You need the start of one:

- **Public meetings that are recorded or streamed.** City council, school board, borough or county assembly, planning commission. The platform turns those recordings into reporting, so they are the raw material.
- **Someone willing to be the editor.** A person who takes responsibility for what gets published. That person is yours, not ours.
- **A few people who want to report.** Two to ten contributors at launch is enough, growing from there.
- **A reason it matters.** An outlet that closed or hollowed out, meetings no one attends, decisions residents only hear about afterwards.

If one of these is missing, that is still worth a conversation. We will tell you honestly whether your community is ready.

## What starting one looks like

1. **You tell us about your community.** A short note is enough to begin (what to include is below).
2. **We reply with a real assessment of fit.** Not a sales pitch: whether the meetings, people and local need are there, and what is missing if they are not.
3. **We scope a pilot together.** Which meetings to cover first, where the recordings and documents live, who the local speakers are, and how the newsroom will be funded.
4. **We set it up with you.** Wiring up sources, seeding the speaker registry, and getting your editor and contributors working in the tools. Expect weeks of setup, not minutes.
5. **Your newsroom launches** on its own community domain, with your editorial team making the decisions.

For the full picture of what the platform provides and what a local team provides, read [For your community](https://communities.news/for-your-community).

## What to include in your note

- Your community's name, and roughly how many people live there
- Which public bodies meet, how often, and where their recordings are posted
- Who could take on the editor role, and who might contribute
- What is failing about local news there now

## Start the conversation

[Contact us](https://communities.news/contact), with the subject line "New community" and your community's name. A first conversation is free.

Every community deserves a newsroom. The next one does not have to come from our research.