Register to Attend: Post Alley Editor Douglas McLennan and LaConner Community News Editor Kari Marr in Conversation
At a time when journalism everywhere is under stress from all sides, local journalism may be the most endangered. As great swaths of North America become local news deserts, our civic life is being degraded. Since 2005 more than 2,500 newspapers have ceased publication — about a third of America’s newspapers. More than 200 counties are now considered news deserts.
But not to give up hope!
In many communities around America, new local news initiatives have sprung up, suggesting new models for informing local communities. One such model is the La Conner Community News, which launched in March 2025. It grew out of the La Conner Weekly News, founded in 1879, holding the distinction of being Washington State’s longest continuously published weekly newspaper. For over 146 years, it covered local events, activities, and issues, serving areas on both sides of the Swinomish Channel and extending to Bayview, Conway, Anacortes, and Mount Vernon.
In December 2024, owner and publisher Ken Stern announced his retirement and the publication of the final edition under his ownership on December 18, 2024. In response to this uncertainty, the community rallied to preserve local journalism, leading to the establishment of the La Conner Community News, a non-profit.
Join Post Alley and the Journalism and Women Symposium at Seattle’s Folio in a discussion of local and community journalism with Kari Marr, editor and publisher of the startup La Conner Community News and Douglas McLennan, editor of Post Alley Seattle and ArtsJournal.com. Can the revived La Conner paper show a way forward to saving local journalism?
Date: April 23
Time: 6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Place: Folio, the Seattle Athenaeum
93 Pike Street #307
Seattle 98101
