In this episode, Paul sits down with Tony Mecia, founder and editor of the Charlotte Ledger, to talk about building a sustainable local news business in 2026. Tony shares how he launched the Ledger as a solo newsletter in 2019 after years at the Charlotte Observer and grew it into a four person newsroom with 5,000 paid subscribers.

They discuss subscription first revenue, the evolution of Substack, the realities of scaling local media, and why original reporting remains a defensible moat, even in the age of AI.

Links:

The Charlotte Ledger

https://www.thecharlotteledger.com/

Tony Mecia

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonymecia/

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