COURIER Grows Online Audience to 500k in Less Than One Year, Giving Sites Competitive Reach Statewide
Civic News Startup Grows Audience By Over 131% In Five Months
NEW YORK, NY – February 3, 2022 – Courier Newsroom — a network of eight local newsrooms across the country reporting on the issues most important to building more informed and civically engaged communities — today announced it has acquired over 500,000 users network-wide. Whereas most digital news publications measure their audience reach and growth through unique visitors and time spent by users on their respective websites, Courier has prioritized user acquisition and growth across three core distribution channels where their target audience of under-reached Americans go to for news and information: Facebook, Instagram and email newsletter subscriptions. The top Courier audiences include Keystone (PA) with 77,150 Facebook followers, UpNorthNews (WI) with 64,302 Facebook followers and 48,245 newsletter subscribers, The ‘Gander (MI) with 76,039 Facebook followers and 46,096 newsletter subscribers, and Floricua (FL) with a Facebook following of 40,366.
“As a team of journalists safeguarding traditional standards while embracing modern distribution practices and point-of-view journalism, all of us at Courier Newsroom are extremely happy to be the first investment of Good Information’s portfolio,” said Pat Kreitlow (he/him), Founding Editor of UpNorthNews, the Wisconsin outlet for Courier Newsroom. “We are seeing unparalleled threats to our country’s democracy and a free press today—threats so grave that the long-running fight against misinformation seems almost quaint as we confront outright disinformation from people preying upon Americans fears and anxieties to push their own agenda or profit margins.”
Courier’s reporting is produced for the social media platforms and online channels its target audiences spend their time on, with an emphasis on video, graphics, and skimmable newsletters to inform and engage our audiences in the ways they consume information today. Audience engagement is a priority performance indicator for Courier Newsroom, whose eight newsrooms provide their local communities—including the people who live in local news deserts and information silos—with news centered on the people and policies affecting their lives and communities.
“Our goals focus where other news outlets don’t – on distribution, particularly distribution where people are getting information today. Earning the trust of 500,000 users who have chosen to subscribe to our email newsletters and engage with our coverage in a sustained way through following our core social media accounts in 2021 is a huge feat that will allow us to scale the impact our newsrooms are having on the communities they serve,” said Tara McGowan, Publisher, Courier Newsroom. “We are living through really challenging times, and keeping Americans informed about how their elected officials and government institutions are working to help, or hurt their communities – especially at the local level, is so important. It also requires us to build new models for how we inform audiences in order to meet them where they are, counter disinformation where it spreads, and give citizens the information they need to participate fully in our democracy. Courier’s newsrooms put our civic responsibilities and mission first every day, and I hope that our approach to meeting audiences where they are, and lifting up our democracy in the process, can serve as an example to other news organizations in the future.”
Courier Newsroom targets its local lifestyle and civic news coverage at audiences who are less likely to consume political news and who are not often reached or engaged by traditional news organizations online, making them harder to identify and reach than active news consumers. At the start of this year, Courier had acquired just over 100,000 followers and subscribers across its eight markets when it set its ambitious goal of 500,000 by year end. Through rigorous testing and creative experimentation, the Courier team was able to surpass this goal early, setting a strong foundation for growth in their markets for years to come.
Courier Newsroom’s social channels, newsletters, and websites can be accessed via the links below:
Courier – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
Copper Courier (AZ) – Newsletter, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube
Floricua (FL) – Newsletter, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube
Iowa Starting Line (IA) – Newsletter, Facebook, Twitter
The ‘Gander (MI) – Newsletter, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
Cardinal & Pine (NC) – Newsletter, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
The Keystone (PA) – Newsletter, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube
Dogwood (VA) – Newsletter, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube
Up North News (WI) – Newsletter, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
About Courier Newsroom
Courier Newsroom is a civic media company that seeks to create a more informed, engaged, and representative America through the distribution of factual, local news and information to under-reached audiences online. Under the direction of Courier Newsroom’s executive leadership team, our eight local newsrooms provide the communities we serve—including the people who live in information silos—with news centered on the people and policies affecting their lives. Our reporting is produced for the social media platforms and online channels our audiences spend their time on, with an emphasis on video, graphics, and skimmable newsletters to inform and engage our audiences in the ways they consume information today.
The managing editor of each site, in addition to Courier Newsroom’s top editor, has sole discretion and control over the editorial process. Courier Newsroom was acquired in 2021 by Good Information Inc., a public benefit corporation whose mission is to strengthen democracy, restore social trust and increase civic participation by increasing the flow of good, factual information reaching Americans online.
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