Today is Local News Day.
Nonprofit media outlet Montana Free Press came up with the idea, and it grew into something bigger than anyone expected — over 1,300 newsrooms and 200 partners across the country, all showing up on the same day to make the case that local journalism still matters. The Latino Newsletter has been part of this from the beginning, and we're proud to be a founding newsroom.
We joined because we know what’s at stake. Local news covers your schools, your neighborhood, the people running your city, and so much more. It’s not glamorous work, but it’s essential, and in too many places it’s gone. When a local newsroom closes, the accountability it provided doesn’t get replaced by anything. And let’s be honest — Latino voices in local media are deeply underrepresented. The Latino Newsletter is helping to fill a void, but we also know it's important to uplift and support anyone who believes in a strong, local news ecosystem.
That’s the reality we're working against. The Latino Newsletter has a local presence in places like Boston and San Juan. Communities there are consuming our work and trusting us for the stories we file. We don’t pretend to cover all things local in those communities, but we do take pride in producing stories with local impact and interest. We’re also building toward a larger presence in the Midwest and California, because Latino communities in those places are living the same stories we cover in our core bureaus, and they deserve journalism that reflects that. All of us do.
If this resonates with you as a subscriber to this newsletter, I kindly ask you to share this post with someone who might be interested in the work we do. You can also tag us on social media: we are @thelatinonewsletter on all major platforms except for Twitter/X, where we are @latnewsletter. You can also send people to localnewsday.org to find the local news near them and discover what's out there.
If you want to go further and support The Latino Newsletter directly today for Local News Day, a donation makes a real difference.
Seguimos
JRV
Julio Ricardo Varela is the founder of The Latino Newsletter. He is also its current part-time publisher and executive director.