As local newspapers shutter, online news source in Prior Lake aims to fill gap

NINA MOINI: A report out today from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University finds that 127 newspapers around the country closed in the last year. It's part of a worsening trend, with communities losing the outlets that cover their local news. But the report also finds an uptick in online news sources funded by philanthropy.

So Prior Lake is an example of these trends. Back in April, the Prior Lake American shut down, along with five other newspapers that served the Southwest metro. Now, former Southwest News Media general manager Laurie Hartmann is working to launch an online news source in Prior Lake. And she joins me now to talk about it. Thanks for being here, Laurie.

LAURIE HARTMANN: Thank you very much for having me, Nina.

NINA MOINI: I'm so happy to have you, and thanks for your work. I want to go back in time briefly. So you wrote a column, I understand, as Southwest News Media was closing its papers earlier this year. And you mentioned kind of how you got your start for the Prior Lake American in 1980. Can you tell me about what drew you to local news?

LAURIE HARTMANN: Well, certainly, I have always had a passion for local news. And I have to say that when I started in this business, I actually started as a girl Friday. Back in those days, everything was pretty much done manually. We had a small staff, and so forth. And I grew with the times and, certainly, it was the most wonderful career that I could ever imagine to have had when I was first starting out. It was truly a blessing and I have nothing but gratitude for it.

NINA MOINI: So when the paper closed, how did you feel and how did you decide that your work in journalism wasn't over and you wanted to continue to give to your community in that way?

NINA MOINI: Well, certainly, change has been a constant within the newspaper industry for at least the last 20 years. Technology has changed everything so much, certainly with the influence of both the internet and also social media as well. I believe very strongly in local news. I think every community benefits if they have a local news source to talk about the important things that are so important to local residents.

Certainly, right now, we have big elections that are going on. We have a school referendum that will be on the November ballot. We have six candidates running for school board as well, along with city council races, too. And that kind of information that people are yearning for, they can't get in one comprehensive place in order to find out what they would like to know about local news.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. So you've joined forces now with existing projects in Eden Prairie and Woodbury to form this Metro Nonprofit News Network. And together, I understand you've received $200,000 over the next two years from the McKnight Foundation. So how are you planning to move forward and use those funds?

LAURIE HARTMANN: Well, first of all, we are very grateful to the McKnight Foundation for embracing local news and, certainly, it's one of their initiatives, not only within the state of Minnesota but throughout the country as well. Eden Prairie Local News and Woodbury News Net is a bit further ahead of what we are doing here in Prior Lake because they had the opportunity to start earlier than what we have. So we are all committed to helping each other in terms of moving forward. It is 100% collaboration as far as sharing of ideas, sharing what has worked, and just moving forward. We have also helped other communities nearby within the metro area. We have answered their questions, and it is our mission to also help them move forward as they progress, too, in providing local news to their communities.

NINA MOINI: You mentioned Woodbury. Former Democratic lawmaker Kathy Saltzman came on this show actually in March to talk about Woodbury, News Net, and they've been able to publish articles and started a newsletter. Do you think this kind of nonprofit online news model will be more sustainable, perhaps, than for-profit newspapers that seem to be closing down every day?

LAURIE HARTMANN: We are very confident that we will make an impact in our community, and in response, our communities will help fund us as well. Certainly, there are direct costs that come into play with that, too, as far as the Prior Lake model, and I believe that this is consistent also for Eden Prairie and the Woodbury News Group as well. We will hire some professional staff. We have a lot of volunteers who have also very willing to help us get the news out to the public, and so forth. But we need funding.

Sometimes people assume that if you're a nonprofit that there doesn't have to be the dollars to go forward with it, and nothing could be further from the truth. We have direct costs and it is our goal, we need to make around $150,000 per year in order to remain sustainable.

NINA MOINI: And are you sharing with folks in the community? Will the reporting be independent from any donors and funders? People are concerned nowadays about where's the news coming from.

LAURIE HARTMANN: Absolutely. It is definitely one of our missions that if you are a donor, that nothing will be influencing our ability to communicate and the news that we cover within our community also. We have had several foundations and also community service organizations who have already stepped up and they said, we really believe in what you're doing, and local news is so important, and we want to help you with that.

NINA MOINI: So how is it going to work? How is your newsroom, I guess, going to function when you get up and running?

LAURIE HARTMANN: We will have a professional paid editor who has previous experience. We will be hiring a couple of part-time reporters also. And the main thing is, as our budget grows with contributions from the community, we will be able to hire more paid professional staff to go ahead and to get the news out to the public.

NINA MOINI: And tell me about some of the types of stories you expect Prior Lake News Compass to be following. And again, you mentioned a little bit, but how it's kind of sets itself apart from other forms of media people can consume?

LAURIE HARTMANN: We are very hopeful that our community and our readers will view us as an online newspaper. We will be covering city stories, school district stories, police reports, things that are happening in the community. One of the things that we have had an outcry for to cover is also the local events that are going on, the different community service organizations that are doing different things, and also to talk about interesting people and people who have done really good things within the community as well. So when you think of your traditional community newspaper, that's what we will be doing, only it's going to be online rather than in print.

NINA MOINI: I'm curious when exactly you think this will be up and running for folks.

LAURIE HARTMANN: The Prior Lake News Compass will be operational in January. We are well on our way to going live with that. We are going to be starting with the newsletter and then move on to our website as well. It is free and open to anybody who would like to get more local news within the community. We are seeking donations for that, too, but our plan is to launch in January. And we are very confident that we will meet that goal.

NINA MOINI: You're going to meet that deadline like a journalist.

LAURIE HARTMANN: We are.

NINA MOINI: Before I let you go, what types of feedback, again, have you just been hearing from folks? I'm sure people appreciate what you're doing.

LAURIE HARTMANN: Overwhelmingly positive. We went to a chamber of commerce meeting last week and it was nothing but positive and thank-yous within the community as well. Like I mentioned before, we've had community service organizations who are very willing to partner with us and to provide some financial support with that, too. I can't go to the grocery store where I don't get stopped by somebody saying, please do something. And when they hear about our initiative, they say, thank you, thank you, thank you. It is so needed within Prior Lake.

NINA MOINI: Well, thank you, again, Laurie. I really appreciate you being here.

LAURIE HARTMANN: Well, thank you so much for having us. And we also invite the Prior Lake Community. We are hosting a community event tonight at Sheppard of the Lake Church. Anyone can attend and learn more about Prior Lake News Compass.

NINA MOINI: I love it. Thanks, Laurie.

LAURIE HARTMANN: Thank you so much. Have a good afternoon.

NINA MOINI: You, too. That was Laurie Hartmann, former general manager of Southwest News Media and a longtime local journalist in Prior Lake. And again, she mentioned it. They're working to launch Prior Lake News Compass, an online nonprofit news source. And her team is hosting a meeting about the project at Shepherd of the Lake Church tonight at 7:00.