The retention of local ownership provides a more viable business model for small newspapers. In Provincetown, Massachusetts, the Provincetown Independent eschews the profit-maximizing, private-equity business model in favor of a weekly publication that is focused on local issues. The newspaper operates on the basis of a hybrid business model, blending its publication with non-profit activities, such as training new journalists and other projects.

Getting away from daily publishing helps local newspapers focus on serving their audience. The Quoddy Tides, a family-owned newspaper in Eastport, Maine, publishes only twice monthly. Publishing less frequently allows the newspaper to include more local stories, which are of interest to their community of readers, many of whom either live in, or have ties to the community. By avoiding the 24-hour news cycle, the newspaper can focus on local discourse and civic engagement.

When a group of middle school girls got tired of having their periods treated as a stigmatized issue, they decided to start their own podcast in order to educate their peers and start a conversation around this natural process. "When I heard we were gonna talk about periods, at first I was disgusted and uncomfortable because that's just how I am," says Kassy Abad. "But once we got to talk about it, and I learned that what happens to me happens to all these other girls, it made me feel more comfortable. It made me feel safe."

Uganda has some of the highest fertility and HIV prevalence rates in the world. Yet the government has banned comprehensive sexuality education in schools, and parents feel uncomfortable talking about the taboo subject. So Chicken & Chips, a television show about puppets, was created to educate the country’s young people about sexual and reproductive health.

In order to combat xenophobic attitudes against refugees in Europe, three friends founded Solomon; a media outlet that “gives voice to non-native populations, countering negative stereotypes about them and helping them integrate into their new communities.” Recent grants have helped the magazine expand and pay staff. “We’re not like other media that focuses on refugees’ selling their bodies or selling drugs. We go with our camera and write about integration.”