A year after the Chestnut Hill Community Association took over management of the Chestnut Hill Local during an emergency appeal, the paper is reporting several new initiatives: four board appointments, a $35,000 grant for election coverage and plans for a neighborhood film festival. The milestones come from the Local’s account of its progress; they do not, by themselves, establish the paper’s overall financial position.
The Chestnut Hill Community Association assumed management of the paper a year ago and appealed to the community for emergency support, according to the Chestnut Hill Local. The paper covers community news, environmental issues, history and preservation, arts and culture, schools and human-interest stories across Northwest Philadelphia and Springfield Township. It describes the past year as a period of renewed momentum.
The Local reports that Meg Cohen Ragas, Anne Gerbner, Shawn Gibbons and Paul McCarthy joined its board during the past year. The paper says the board will begin strategic planning with its Lenfest consultant in early 2027. Its identified priorities include digital engagement, circulation and pricing, developing the editorial pipeline, diversity, governance and fundraising.
Grant Funding Targets Nonpartisan Election Coverage
In September, the Local secured a $35,000 Lenfest Every Voice, Every Vote grant to support nonpartisan voter election coverage over two years, the paper reports. The award is part of a broader two-year, $1.8 million program organized by The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, with lead support for the program’s next phase from the William Penn Foundation.
Local-news context and grant-wide results
As broader context, Nieman Journalism Lab, summarizing Medill’s State of Local News report, says almost 40% of U.S. local newspapers have vanished since 2005. That national finding does not establish how many community newspapers remain in Philadelphia or Pennsylvania, define their role locally, or indicate the Chestnut Hill Local’s financial circumstances. Every Voice, Every Vote says its media partners have published nearly 600 pieces of reporting and civic information content and generated 16.5 million media impressions. Those are coalition-wide totals, not results attributable to the Chestnut Hill Local’s grant. The information cited here describes the grant’s purpose as supporting nonpartisan voter election coverage but does not establish the program’s eligibility rules.
The Local also reports that 50 new advertisers placed print or digital ads in the Local, Wissahickon Magazine or Explore during the preceding 12 months. The paper says the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association named it a News Organization of the Year for the fourth consecutive year.
History Series Becomes a Multi-Venue Film Festival
The Local is working with Sam Katz’s History Making Productions to organize screenings of Katz’s 10-part series, “In Pursuit: Philadelphia and the Making of America,” as a film festival. The paper says venues and post-screening panelists have been lined up for events at 10 or more locations across Chestnut Hill, Mt. Airy, Germantown and Springfield Township. A raffle is planned to encourage attendees to go to multiple screenings.
The docuseries was written by novelist and Hidden City co-founder Nathaniel Popkin, directed by multiple Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award winner Andrew Ferrett, and produced by Katz, according to Hidden City Philadelphia.
The board appointments, grant and planned festival are among the developments the Local cites as it looks ahead after the management change. The paper says it plans to continue expanding its journalism and community support in the months ahead.
