I love a good pun, so I think "Press Forward" is a clever name for a movement committed to supporting local news. Not only does the word "press" bring to mind the presses that are still an important part of the industry, and the word "forward" implies that we are also moving beyond a printed product, but the idea of moving forward also suggests that the work difficult and the results uncertain. And yet forward is the right path.

That's the topic of this week's video. It's a bit personal, because this work means so much to me. But I hope it will also be meaningful to you as followers and friends of this community newspaper. Plus, I added music and sound effects to keep it lively!

0:00 – Introduction
0:29 – Reasons for the decline of local news
1:56 – Ways The Lansing Journal is Combating Decline
4:40 – A new movement called Press Forward
5:00 PM – Press Forward Chicago, our local chapter
7:31 – What we do with the grant we received
8:17 – How the grant application process opened my eyes
9:37 – How Josh Bootsma's departure opened my eyes
11:13 – Why I'm telling you this
2:00 PM – Our history and our future

Here are the related links mentioned in the video:
• Support your local newspaper; it makes a difference: https://thelansingjournal.com/support
• Learn more about the local news crisis and the Press Forward movement:
– https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2024/05/07/americans-changing-relationship-with-local-news/
– https://www.npr.org/2023/04/10/1169014791/news-us-newspaper-latest-gannet-media
– https://www.pressforward.news/
– https://www.cct.org/press-forward/
• Meet The Lansing Journal's writing team, local people reporting local news: https://thelansingjournal.com/about-us/the-writing-team/
• Subscribe to The Lansing Journal (it's free because of community support): https://thelansingjournal.com/subscribe

The Lansing Journal is the only newspaper in Lansing, Illinois, delivering independent local news every day. We depend on the support of our community to continue sharing important information. Using the Super Chat, Super Stickers, and Super Thanks features on YouTube is one way you can support us. Or visit the Support page on our website to make a donation: https://thelansingjournal.com/support

Thank you for helping make local news possible!

Please take the opportunity to connect and share this video with your friends and family if you find it helpful.