Saving Local Journalism: Meet the LaConner Community News
Wed, Apr 23
|Folio: The Seattle Athenaeum
Rental partner event
Time & Location
Apr 23, 2025, 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM PDT
Folio: The Seattle Athenaeum, 93 Pike St #307, Seattle, WA 98101, USA
About the Event
Free and open to all.
At a time when journalism everywhere is under stress from all sides, local journalism may be the most endangered. As great swaths of North America become local news deserts, our civic life is being degraded. Since 2005 more than 2,500 newspapers have ceased publication — about a third of America’s newspapers. More than 200 counties are now considered news deserts.
But not to give up hope!
In many communities around America, new local news initiatives have sprung up, suggesting new models for informing local communities. One such model is the La Conner Community News, which launched in March 2025. It grew out of the La Conner Weekly News, founded in 1879, holding the distinction of being Washington State’s longest continuously published weekly newspaper. For over 146 years, it covered local events, activities, and issues, serving areas on both sides of the…