Author Archives: The LA Local

Long Beach Post and Long Beach Business Journal Join The LA Local

Strengthens Local Reporting, Preserves Jobs and Positions Newsrooms for Long-Term Growth

LONG BEACH, Calif., April 28, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — The Long Beach Post and Long Beach Business Journal, two of the city’s most trusted independent news outlets, are joining The LA Local, a nonprofit news organization dedicated to building and supporting community-centered newsrooms across Los Angeles County.

A reporter at the Long Beach Post, now part of The LA Local, interviews a resident in Long Beach, CA. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.
Image caption: A reporter at the Long Beach Post, now part of The LA Local, interviews a resident in Long Beach, CA. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.

By joining The LA Local, the Post and Business Journal gain access to added resources, collaboration with other outlets serving the area and regional reporting capacity. The Long Beach newsroom will receive financial support, maintain its current staff size, and expand its capacity for community engagement and neighborhood coverage, all while remaining locally led, independently branded, and deeply rooted in Long Beach. The integration is based on a shared commitment to ensuring Long Beach residents continue to have access to strong, independent local journalism.

Led by Founding CEO Michele Siqueiros, The LA Local has launched nonprofit community newsrooms throughout L.A. County, expanded existing outlets like Boyle Heights Beat and invested in regional news organizations like LAist and CalMatters.

“Long Beach residents deserve journalism that reflects their lives, their neighborhoods and their city,” said Michele Siqueiros, founding CEO of The LA Local. “The LA Local was built around that belief, and the Long Beach Post and Business Journal have spent years doing that work. Welcoming them into The LA Local means more resources for the reporters who show up every day for this community, and more ways for residents to engage with the coverage that affects them most.”

The Long Beach Post and Long Beach Business Journal, which became nonprofit news organizations in 2023 under the umbrella of the Long Beach Journalism Initiative, will continue day-to-day operations with the same local focus as part of The LA Local.

Over time, The LA Local also plans to expand into Long Beach its LA Documenters program, part of the award-winning Documenters Network by City Bureau, which recruits, trains and pays local residents to document local public meetings, and a youth journalism program that works with local high schools to train young people in journalism. In addition to expanded programming, The LA Local will deepen community engagement work in Long Beach and remains committed to hearing from residents and stakeholders about how best to strengthen local news and how the Post and Business Journal can remain effective informers for the city.

Melissa Evans, who served as CEO of the Long Beach Journalism Initiative, will remain as Managing Director of Long Beach, leading fundraising and engagement for the publication. Jeremiah Dobruck will continue leading the Long Beach newsroom as its top editor.

“Local news across the country has been through enormous change, and so has the Post,” Melissa Evans said. “We have worked hard to create a sustainable path forward while our reporting team continues to do excellent, meaningful journalism for this city. This integration gives us greater stability and the ability to keep growing from a stronger foundation, while preserving the local reporting Long Beach deserves.”

Over the past two decades, local journalism in Long Beach – like in many communities – has steadily felt the pain of a shifting media market, leaving fewer resources to cover a growing and complex city. This announcement financially stabilizes the Long Beach Post and Business Journal ensuring they continue producing fact-based journalism. The LA Local model is built on rigorous journalistic standards, including editorial independence, professionalism and accuracy, while ensuring coverage remains free and accessible to the public—supported by a mix of philanthropic, corporate and membership revenue.

“The Long Beach Post is an important piece of our community’s infrastructure,” said Michelle Byerly, Executive Director of The Nonprofit Partnership. “It connects residents to each other and to the resources they need, grounding them in trusted, local facts. Keeping communities informed and engaged is a public service and the Post is essential to that. With The LA Local, a stronger Post means a stronger Long Beach.”

The LA Local was created following an extensive community listening effort, and with support from a broad coalition of local and national supporters, including anchor investments from The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, The Spiegel Family Fund, the American Journalism Project and others. Its founding Board of Directors includes local journalism, community, and philanthropic leaders with deep roots in and a passionate commitment to Southern California.

Earlier this year, The LA Local launched new publications that expanded coverage to 10 communities in L.A. County, adding 29 newsroom jobs within its own newsrooms and at LAist and CalMatters. It continues to represent one of the nation’s largest nonprofit news startups and is fueled by $19.3 million in philanthropic investments and partnerships with more than 20 area media outlets and universities, ensuring that local reporting remains vital, accessible and reflects the communities it serves.

“Long Beach City College and our local newsrooms share a common goal: We are both institutions dedicated to public service and the empowerment of our residents,” said Uduak-Joe Ntuk, President of the Long Beach Community College Board of Trustees. “We are excited to welcome The LA Local to Long Beach and look forward to a relationship where community voices and concerns are given the coverage all our neighborhoods deserve.”

About The LA Local

The LA Local is a nonprofit news organization built to strengthen Los Angeles by serving and connecting local communities with trusted, community-centered journalism, starting in Boyle Heights, East L.A., Koreatown, Pico-Union, Westlake, Inglewood, South L.A., and now Long Beach. The LA Local also provides region-wide coverage, partnering with more than 20 local media outlets and universities to strengthen journalism in the region. The LA Local’s newsroom also includes youth journalists and LA Documenters, a program that has recruited, trained and paid more than 100 Angelenos to document local government meetings. Learn more at https://thelalocal.org/.

Logo link: https://thelalocal.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/logo-the-la-local.svg

NEWS SOURCE: The LA Local


This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (The LA Local), who is solely responsible for its accuracy, by Send2Press Newswire. Image, if any, was provided by the news source and not this website or the wire service. Information is believed accurate, as provided by the news source, but is not guaranteed.

To view the original story, visit: https://www.send2press.com/wire/long-beach-post-and-long-beach-business-journal-join-the-la-local/

Copr. © 2026 Send2Press® Newswire, Calif., USA. -- REF: S2P STORY ID: S2P134886 NOREL-3B

 

The LA Local Launches New Publications Serving 10 Additional Neighborhoods

Launch represents one of the largest philanthropic efforts in the country to strengthen local news

LOS ANGELES, Calif., Jan. 12, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — The LA Local today announced the next phase of its groundbreaking newsroom expansion, including community-based news outlets and a website, thelalocal.org, to serve as a trusted source of local news and information. The LA Local is led by a team of civic and journalistic leaders with deep roots in Los Angeles dedicated to delivering free and fair reporting that better connects communities, strengthens local journalism and fosters collaboration among news organizations.

A member of The LA Local's community engagement team speaks with a resident in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles. Photo Credit: The LA Local.
Photo caption: A member of The LA Local’s community engagement team speaks with a resident in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles. Photo Credit: The LA Local.

This expansion adds 27 newsroom jobs dedicated to Los Angeles, including at The LA Local’s own newsrooms and at LAist and CalMatters. It represents one of the nation’s largest nonprofit news startups and is fueled by $19.3 million in philanthropic investments and partnerships with 24 area media outlets and universities, ensuring that local reporting remains vital and accessible in Los Angeles.

Led by Executive Editor Kristen Muller, The LA Local’s three community news outlets now cover ten neighborhoods, including: Koreatown, Pico Union, Westlake, Inglewood, East L.A. and South L.A. It will also cover regional news and has partnerships with organizations that include LAist, CalMatters, L.A. Taco, Crosstown at USC, LA Public Press, the Los Angeles Sentinel and The Eastsider. The LA Local multi-pronged newsroom includes Boyle Heights Beat covering Boyle Heights and East LA, and the LA Documenters, which has recruited, trained and paid more than 100 Angelenos to document local government meetings.

“The expansion of The LA Local is a significant investment in the future of our city and county,” said Michele Siqueiros, founding CEO of The LA Local. “By rallying philanthropic support and media partners, we are ensuring Angelenos have the reliable information they need to navigate Los Angeles. We’ve already seen the power of local trusted news in action: Pop up polling locations opened in Boyle Heights where more than 2,100 residents were able to vote as a result of reporting by Boyle Heights Beat. And our partner LAist’s coverage of federal actions at White Memorial Hospital galvanized community stakeholders and demonstrators to demand the protection of patient privacy rights and healthcare workers. Our ongoing collaborations with L.A.-based outlets continue to strengthen the local news ecosystem. All show the power of community reporting and what neighbors stand to gain from news organizations coming together to build a collaborative and supportive news environment for L.A.”

Los Angeles is set to host major events like the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games and will hold pivotal elections at the local and statewide level that will define the region’s direction for years to come. What it lacks are the resources to tell how those major events will affect communities. Despite being an entertainment and media epicenter, L.A. County has just 3.6 local journalists per 100,000 people, making it “dramatically undercovered,” according to the Local Journalist Index.

“Most journalism treats neighborhoods as stories to cover,” said Kristen Muller, Executive Editor of The LA Local. “The LA Local treats them as communities to serve—we’re building newsrooms inside neighborhoods so residents have the information infrastructure they need to participate fully in democracy. It’s not just coverage, it’s connection.”

The LA Local adopts a nonprofit model – combined with rigorous journalistic standards anchored by independence, professionalism and accuracy – that guarantees every dollar is reinvested directly into neighborhood reporting.

This community-first structure allows local journalists to focus solely on what matters to the people they serve, and ensures information and coverage is always free. The result is journalism that offers more independence, and builds a community newsroom that reflects Los Angeles, ensuring comprehensive coverage of essential beats.

In addition to Siqueiros and Muller, The LA Local is supported by a founding Board of Directors that includes local journalism, community, and philanthropic leaders with deep roots in and a passionate commitment to Los Angeles. That commitment has led to philanthropic investments from The American Journalism Project, The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, The Spiegel Family Fund and others.

“The LA Local is the product of a shared passion for Los Angeles among leaders in journalism, community, and philanthropy,” said Monica Lozano, Board Chair for The LA Local. “We are committed to building a durable institution that serves and empowers the city and its vibrant neighborhoods for years to come.”

About The LA Local

Previously the LA Local News Initiative, The LA Local is a new nonprofit news organization built to strengthen Los Angeles by connecting neighborhoods through trusted, community-centered journalism. While filling critical reporting gaps in neighborhoods throughout Southern California, The LA Local also provides region-wide coverage, partnering with 24 local media outlets and universities to engage and connect communities. The LA Local multi-pronged newsroom also includes youth journalists and LA Documenters, a program that has recruited, trained and paid more than 100 Angelenos to document local government meetings. Learn more about The LA Local at: https://thelalocal.org/.

MULTIMEDIA:

Photo link for media: https://www.Send2Press.com/300dpi/26-0112-s2p-thelalocal-300dpi.webp

Photo caption: A member of The LA Local’s community engagement team speaks with a resident in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles. Photo Credit: The LA Local.

Logo link: https://thelalocal.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/logo-the-la-local.svg

NEWS SOURCE: The LA Local


This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (The LA Local), who is solely responsible for its accuracy, by Send2Press Newswire. Image, if any, was provided by the news source and not this website or the wire service. Information is believed accurate, as provided by the news source, but is not guaranteed.

To view the original story, visit: https://www.send2press.com/wire/the-la-local-launches-new-publications-serving-10-additional-neighborhoods/

Copr. © 2026 Send2Press® Newswire, Calif., USA. -- REF: S2P STORY ID: S2P132188 NOREL-3B