COURIER turns five!

Five years ago, on June 28, 2019, COURIER launched our first state newsroom: Dogwood in Virginia. That first newsroom was an experiment: could we create a new model of media that reaches Americans left behind by traditional media and empowers civic participation? The answer was a resounding yes, and based on that success, we began to grow, using the Dogwood model as a blueprint, but always continuing to innovate to increase our reach and impact. 

Now, five years later, COURIER has eleven state newsrooms: Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. We’re publishing local, values-driven political and lifestyle reporting directly into the feeds of millions of less politically engaged Americans. COURIER’s growth and impact over the past five years includes accomplishments such as: 

– Growing an owned audience of over 3.1 million across newsletter subscribers and social media followers, with a weekly reach of 16 million Americans online. 

– Creating explosive growth on TikTok, becoming one the biggest local news accounts in many key states and more than doubling our national account in just 2.5 months;

– Validating our model with proven results from multiple studies showing measurable impact in increasing civic engagement;  

– Winning numerous awards for excellence in journalism, such as from the North Carolina Press Awards and the Arizona Press Club;

– Building a massive email newsletter program with over 1.5 million subscribers and above-industry-average open rates;

– Breaking local news stories and having our reporting cited by other media outlets;

– Hiring top talent in the industry and growing to over 85 full-time employees.

The COURIER of today looks different than the COURIER of five years ago. The core of our model is understanding that the cultural and technological landscape is always evolving — which means the media must also. If we are going to reach Americans who have been left behind by traditional media, we need to stay ahead of the curve on where and how they are getting their news. That’s a key part of what makes COURIER special — our commitment to delivering our news to our audiences, wherever that may be. And it pays off: our state newsrooms were some of the first local news outlets to invest in building TikTok presences, and that’s been a huge part of our growth trajectory.

The platforms that we are on today look different than five years ago and will probably be different again in five years. Our ability to innovate and adapt is the secret to our growth and impact, and we wouldn’t be where we are today without it. We’re proud of what we’ve achieved in the past five years to create a more informed and engaged electorate in America and to strengthen our democracy, but we’re even more excited to see what comes next. You can be part of it by following us across social media platforms at @couriernewsroom, subscribing to our newsletters and podcasts, and supporting our work.