Voices Gather to Support Local Independent Media

Jasmine Russell (photo by Mikki Morrissette)

Several speakers and local independent media outlets gathered at the Minnesota Capitol for an April 7 rally about local news, as part of a national Local News Day movement.

One of the speakers was Jasmine Russell, the Chief Narrative & Data Justice Officer at the African American Leadership Forum. She described as example the history of media as central to “shaping public understanding in entirely new ways for Black communities. … These weren’t just stories. They were systems of survival and also strategies of liberation, backed by fact and also urgency. The Freedom Journal was established in 1827; that same year, slavery was abolished in New York. This was the first African American operating newspaper in the United States. It was how we documented what we were seeing in our communities.

“Newspapers are how we protect one another. News is how we imagine what is possible beyond our present conditions.”

Russell said that while today’s media landscape has expanded across digital platforms, “the core purpose remains the same: to reflect the truth of the people, to connect, cite, engage. It’s required to move us forward.”

Building narratives that inspire and sustain our communities for generations to come requires investment, she added. “It’s essential for infrastructure, just like education, housing, health care. Without trusted information, communities can’t make informed decisions, organize effectively, or participate in democracy.”

Russell described the critical point we are at today. “While we’re seeing both the expansion of voices and also the erosion of resources, truth is being challenged in a very unique way — misinformation is being amplified. This is a moment of key possibility. It’s a moment to choose investment over neglect, truth over noise, and the strength of the ecosystems that keep our communities informed, connected, and empowered. When stories are distorted or silenced, we lose more than information. We lose that original trust, that oratory alignment, and the ability to move forward together. So today, we’re here to affirm that local media matters, that community voices matter, and that truth matters — and investing in media is invested in the future of our communities.”

Policy Ideas

Senator Heather Gustafson (photo by Mikki Morrissette)

Senator Heather Gustafson (DFL-White Bear Lake), a former radio broadcaster in Fargo, also spoke at the rally. “Community-driven journalism, from voices of people that you see and talk to, there in your community, is so valuable — and it’s fading away,” Gustafson warned. She grew up in Sartell, and said she has seen what happened to the local Saint Cloud Times newspaper. “We’ve watched it go from a really large newspaper to a skeleton crew, because that’s all the funding and the support they have.”

She noted that when we lose a local media outlet, “that’s where we can really get in trouble, because the [social media] algorithm does not care who you are like that local reporter does.”

Gustafson is chief Senate author of SF4183, a workforce development bill that would create a local news talent pipeline program to place emerging media professionals into Minnesota’s community-based newsrooms and print, radio, and TV platforms.

Editor’s note: Most media outlets don’t center community voices in the way Minnesota Women’s Press does. In 2026, we had seed money from an Advancing Democracy grant that enabled us to work with student reporters for our Future Forward series, which is a platform for students about narratives and policies for systems change.

We also are working on a media literacy guide with Augsburg College, and developing a summer story series — as the country celebrates its 250th anniversary — about envisioning how to shift the next generations of history.

Minnesota Women’s Press publisher Mikki Morrissette with Project Optimist founder Nora Hertel at the True North News Alliance rally at the Minnesota Capitol (photo by David Pierini, North News)