Carol Wood, founder of Emerge Media Group, joins the show for a deep dive into the business and operational backbone of local journalism. With a career spanning editorial reporting, business ownership, and nonprofit leadership, Carol understands both the newsroom and the balance sheet.

From her early days as a cops and crime reporter at the Rocky Mountain News to co-founding BizWest Media and serving as COO of The Colorado Sun, Carol has spent decades helping local news organizations survive and thrive.

Today, through Emerge Media Group, she works as a fractional COO for local and hyperlocal outlets across the country, helping them tackle everything from insurance and HR manuals to trust certification and business model reinvention.

Links:

Carol Wood

[email protected]

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

N2 Media Holdings

https://www.n2mediaholdings.com/

The Local - Colorado pilot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB6UqphmbGQ&list=PL8X2AI544x9LozuhRQfNBZ1lb6jfwm3QF

---

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Paul sits down with Lon Haenel, publisher of Decorah News, founder of Local News ROI, and Chief Client Officer at Newspaper Subscription Services.

Lon shares his unconventional path through local media from selling ads in the late 1990s to launching digital services, leading circulation teams at major dailies, and ultimately building businesses focused on sustainable audience growth.

Links:

Lon Haenel - LinkedIn

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

Decorah News

https://www.decorahnews.com/

Newspaper Subscription Services

http://www.nsslp.com/

Local News ROI

http://www.localnewsroi.com/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jack Brewster, founder and CEO of Newsreel, joins the show to talk about reinventing journalism for the algorithmic age. A former politics reporter at Forbes and investigative editor at NewsGuard, Jack has reported on misinformation, social media manipulation, and the structural incentives that shape today’s digital landscape.

Now, he’s building a new kind of platform, one designed to compete with social media not by maximizing time spent, but by maximizing understanding.

In this conversation, we explore what’s broken about today’s information ecosystem, why “the follower” no longer matters, and how Newsreel aims to create habit forming news without burnout.

Links:

Newsreel

https://newsreel.co/

Jack Brewster - LinkedIn

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

[email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Todd Landfried, co founder and CEO of N2 Media Holdings, joins the show to discuss a bold reimagining of local news in the streaming era.

Todd shares his unconventional path from rural economic development work with the USDA to radio and podcasting and how those experiences led him to confront a growing problem: the collapse of sustainable, high quality local news.

His solution? The Local: a statewide, streaming first local news model built specifically for platforms like Netflix, Amazon, and Apple TV.

Links:

N2 Media Holdings

https://www.n2mediaholdings.com/

The Local - Colorado pilot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB6UqphmbGQ&list=PL8X2AI544x9LozuhRQfNBZ1lb6jfwm3QF

Todd Landfried - LinkedIn

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vernon Jones is the founder and CEO of NYC Newswire, NYC News Network, and Jig Media, and he's exploring a bold new model for hyperlocal journalism in New York City.

Vernon shares how his journey from running a 35 employee commercial cleaning company led him into domain investing, and ultimately into building a scalable, tech enabled network of niche media properties focused entirely on New York City.

At a time when many claim “local news is dead,” Vernon is betting on the opposite: that hyperlocal, industry specific, and neighborhood based coverage, when structured correctly, can thrive.

Links:

NYC Newswire

https://nycnewswire.com/

JIG Media

https://jig.media/

Vernon Jones - LinkedIn

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Paul sits down with Jason Joyce, publisher of Isthmus, a nonprofit, independent news source based in Madison, Wisconsin. With a career deeply rooted in local media, Jason shares his unique perspective on the evolution of alt weeklies, the revival of Isthmus post-COVID, and how the paper is thriving through nonprofit reinvention.

Links:

Jason Joyce - LinkedIn

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

Isthmus

https://isthmus.com/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Paul sits down with Mark Russell, Executive Editor of the Commercial Appeal and South Regional Editor for the USA Today Network, to talk about the realities, and future, of local journalism in the American South.

With more than four decades in newsrooms across the country, Mark brings a grounded, practical perspective on how legacy publications are adapting to digital change while continuing to serve their communities.

Links:

Mark Russell - LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrussell48/

Commercial Appeal

https://www.commercialappeal.com/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today Paul speaks with Mark Talkington, founder of Valley Voice Media and co-creator of Satchel, an AI powered reporting tool, about his unique path from traditional journalism to tech powered local news innovation.

Mark shares how a career that began in weekly newspapers led him to help launch ESPN.com, build tools at Microsoft, and ultimately return to community journalism in Palm Springs, California. What started as a side project Substack during the pandemic has grown into a thriving local media company with thousands of subscribers and an AI tool now used by newsrooms around the world.

Links:

Mark Talkington - LinkedIn

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

Valley Voice Media

https://www.valleyvoicemedia.org/

Satchel AI

https://www.satchelai.com/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Paul speaks with Greg Krehbiel, president of The Krehbiel Group, about the accelerating disruption AI poses to publishing, local media, and the broader economy. Greg shares insights from his decades long career in B2B publishing and his current work helping publishers bridge the gap between technology and strategy.

They talk about why AI may not be "just another wave of disruption", the existential threat AI poses to jobs across industries, how local publishers can retain relevance and economic viability, and a lot more.

Links:

Greg Krehbiel - LinkedIn

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

The Krehbiel Group

https://krehbielgroup.com/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on the podcast Laura Rearwin Ward shares the gritty, hands on journey of taking over a struggling local newspaper, turning it around from the brink of bankruptcy, and championing independent journalism across California.

Links:

Laura Rearwin Ward - LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-rearwin-ward-564b2466/

Ojai Valley News

https://www.ojaivalleynews.com/

California Independent News Alliance (CINA)

https://cina.news/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices