The Maynard Institute Team in Action: October, 2026

Leading across the nation

October has been a busy month for the Maynard Institute team, as we’ve split up, spread out and traveled across the nation to three of the most important events in journalism. We will be closing the month with our Propel Regional Training Series in Burbank, and an in-person training session with our Fire Up Entrepreneurship Program Fellows.

The Local News Policy Summit in San Antonio, TX.

On October 6, Co-Executive Director Martin G. Reynolds and Senior Director of Strategic Directives Felecia D. Henderson traveled to San Antonio, Texas to attend the Local News Policy Summit. The summit provided an opportunity meet with people passionate about local news, equitable policy, press freedom and access to quality news.

“What made this summit so distinctive was bringing together four organizations approaching local news policy through different lenses, alongside legislators from states including California, Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Illinois, advocates journalism affinity organizations and foundations,” said Reynolds.

“The conversations ranged from practical strategies like tax credits and funding set-asides to the fundamental importance of ensuring equity is at the center of public policy. It was an incredibly powerful and uplifting gathering that fostered new relationships, shared learning and a sense of collective purpose. Participants left with practical ideas they could take back to their states and renewed momentum for the work ahead. Those relationships and shared commitments will be especially important as we explore what it could take to advance meaningful federal support for local news nationwide.”

Martin G. Reynolds moderated the opening plenary featuring Debra Adams Simmons, editor-in-chief of special projects at GBH and Board Member with the Maynard Institute, Anshantia Oso, executive director of Media 2070, as well as award winning journalist and author and IJA Treasurer Joseph Lee discussing how to ensure a representative civic information system. 

Felecia D. Henderson led a panel discussion on “Building the Civic Information Workforce: Creating the Talent Pipeline for Democracy.”

SPJ 2026 National Convention in Columbus, OH.

Doris Truong, director of the Fire Up Entrepreneurship Program traveled to Columbus, Ohio in the first week of October to attend the SPJ 2026 National Convention teach the 2026 Dori Maynard Diversity Leadership Fellows.

The Dori Maynard Diversity Leadership Program honors pioneering journalist and late President of the Maynard Institute Dori J. Maynard, daughter of Maynard Institute co-founder Robert C. Maynard.

Dori Maynard served on the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation (now the SPJ Foundation) Board of Directors from 1999, and in 2001 she was named a Fellow of the Society, SPJ’s “highest honor recognizing outstanding contributions to journalism.”

Local News Camp, Durham, NC.

Director of Development Nadia Campbell-Mitchell and Director of the Fire Up Program Doris Truong attended Local News Camp in Durham, North Carolina October 11-14. Hosted by Blue Engine Collaborative, Newspack and new Maynard Institute partners BlueLena and co-sponsored by The Lenfest Institute, Local News Camp was modeled after the summer camp experience. Yes, the gathering still featured speaker sessions and workshops, but was meant to be a more laid-back and “human” experience.

“Camp is designed to be more collaborative, hands-on, and, frankly, human. We’ve designed every aspect of the gathering—from workshops and campfires to meals and informal conversations—to help local news leaders make better decisions,” the Local News Camp website stated.

With a focus on the business of local news and nailing big business decisions, sessions featured topics like AI in Practice, Building World-Class Products, How to Do Elite Marketing on a Local Budget. “Campfire chats” provided space to talk about making ugly ads, and vibe coding for leaders and managers. Departing from typical convention structure, Local News Camp also encouraged connection with time set aside to “sit down with someone you’d love to meet,” and visits to the Durham Bulls and local nonprofit The Scrap Exchange.

“Kudos to the Blue Engine Collaborative team — esp. Candice Fortman — for bringing together a community committed to strengthening local news. (Look at this turnout just of North Carolinians!)” Truong posted to LinkedIn.

The inaugural Local News Camp was inspiring, especially with a field trip to Durham’s The Scrap Exchange to understand community connection and impact.

It was a delight to reconnect with fellow Washington Post alum Andrea Bruce, Micah Gelman, Lauren Saks and Natalie Jennings.

As Mike Allen urged us: Simplify!”

Propel Regional Training Series

Our second Propel Regional Training in Burbank trained over 50 journalists from across the California local news ecosystem, connecting students, journalists, editors and independent news publishers.

Held in partnership with the Department of Journalism at California State University, Northridge, this landmark training is another step forward in strengthening California local news.

Expert faculty led sessions on covering immigration during an era of increasing civil rights violations and danger to journalists, ethical use of AI, and new connections to student media.

To conclude the training, a regional roundtable of news leaders discussed everything from challenges entering the industry and finding first-time employment in a newsroom to keeping sources and journalists safe and ensuring comprehensive coverage of divisive issues while mitigating harm to vulnerable and targeted communities.

Participant testimonials:

Participants surveyed after the training offered feedback, reflecting on the connections they made with peers and remarking on the quality of the training sessions.

“I appreciated being able to network with so many people. It’s magical.” 

“Overall, this training has exceeded my expectations.”

“Appreciate the mindful programming and organizing that went into every single session and exercise.”

“I love practical advice that can be applied to student newsrooms immediately. The Emergency Plan, and Fault Lines awareness of implicit biases and complicated intersectionality were especially valuable. Also, I got to chat with Steve Padilla during lunch, and just that quick sit-down was valuable. The man is a walking dictionary of useful anecdotes!“

“We should definitely have more workshops like this throughout the years to guide aspiring student journalists.”

“All of the speakers gave very captivating presentations. Overall, this has been a very rewarding experience.”

Fire Up Fellows Meet in Pasadena

As Doris Truong takes over as director of the Fire Up Entrepreneurship Program, the 2026 cohort of Fire Up Fellows is meeting in Pasadena.

“It’s inspiring to see this cohort growing and learning together. Their progress since our first meeting in July includes learning how to better use analytics and thinking more strategically about how to expand their audience reach. You can see them learning from each other and challenging long-held assumptions.”

Joined by heads of finance and product from LAist as well as other expert coaches in sustainability and growth, the fellows are receiving training in budgeting, product development and collaborative and community news models.

“I’m honored to have the opportunity to continue to shape Fire Up with my Maynard colleagues. Our shared commitment to elevating all voices gives me hope for local journalism.”