Looking back at 13 years of reporting on local news projects

I recently wrapped up my third book on the road ahead for local and regional journalism. “What Works: The Future of Local News,” a collaboration with former Boston Globe editorial-page editor Ellen Clegg, is scheduled to be published by Beacon Press in the fall of 2023.

“What Works” is my third book on the topic, preceded by “The Wired City: Reimagining Journalism and Civic Life in the Post-Newspaper Age” (2013) and “The Return of the Moguls: How Jeff Bezos and John Henry Are Remaking Newspapers for the Twenty-First Century” (2018). My methodology has been similar for all three — starting in 2009, I’ve been visiting newsrooms across the country and interviewing editors and other news executives.

Although I may yet write another book, it will probably not be the same type of project. That sparked some nostalgia on my part as I thought back to the places I’ve been to over the past 13 years. I’ve compiled a list of places I’ve visited. Most involved interviewing people in their newsrooms. Some don’t have newsrooms. Some couldn’t meet me on site because of COVID-19. In all of these, though, I traveled to where they were, interviewing some people at their homes or in restaurants. It’s quite a list, and I look back fondly on every one.

• The 016, Worcester, Massachusetts
• Baristanet, Montclair, New Jersey
• The Batavian, Batavia, New York
• The Bedford Citizen, Massachusetts
• Billy Penn, Philadelphia
• The Boston Globe
• Burlington Free Press, Vermont
• Colorado Community Media, Englewood, Colorado
• Colorado Public Radio, Denver, Colorado
• The Colorado Sun, Denver, Colorado
• The Connecticut Mirror, Hartford, Connecticut
• CT News Junkie, Hartford, Connecticut
• The Daily News, Batavia, New York
• Fort Bragg Advocate-News, California
• Haverhill Matters, Haverhill, Massachusetts
• Inner-City Newspaper, New Haven, Connecticut
• KZYX Radio, Philo, California
• Los Angeles Times
• Mendocino Beacon, Fort Bragg, California
• The Mendocino Voice, Ukiah, California
• Montclair Local, New Jersey
• The Montclair Times, New Jersey
• New Haven Advocate
• New Haven Independent
• New Haven Register
• NJ Spotlight News, Newark, New Jersey
• OC Weekly, Costa Mesa, California
• Orange Coast Magazine, Newport Beach, California
• Orange County Register, Santa Ana, California
• The Philadelphia Inquirer
• Philadelphia magazine
• Portland Press Herald (Maine)
• San Diego CityBeat
• Seven Days, Burlington, Vermont
• The Star-Ledger, Newark, New Jersey
• Ukiah Daily Journal, Ukiah, California
• Vermont Public Radio, Burlington, Vermont
• Voice of San Diego
• La Voz Hispana de Connecticut, New Haven, Connecticut
• VTDigger, Montpelier, Vermont
• The Washington Post
• Washingtonian magazine
• Westword, Denver, Colorado
• Willits Weekly, Willits, California
• WHAV Radio, Haverhill, Massachusetts
• WNHH Radio, New Haven, Connecticut
• Worcester Sun, Massachusetts