@cR0w I pay to support https://www.virginiamercury.com/ . They're part of an org called "States Newsroom" and they seem to have local journalists on the ground that do real reporting. Like, these are the people still showing up at hearings and filing FOIA requests.

It's bleak. There aren't many good options. But this is one.

@cR0w It's not easy. There are too many "sponsored" posts masquerading as journalism. In some cases, the giveaway is the absence of any bio or link to the writer. That's when you know the post was written by a marketer. And many of the smaller sites rely on the big guns for stories and quotes. Wired and 404 Media are some of the few still doing their own investigative work.

But on the bright side, I've been running into smaller radio stations and newspapers picking up the slack. That's a good thing.

@cR0w
There are some bright spots in the digital media front for local news.

For example, in San Francisco, Mission Local (@MLNow, Missionlocal.org) is growing and providing local coverage. (Started hyperlocal {or hypolocal?) as it started out covering the Mission, and is gradually expanding to provide very good coverage of SF). Others, such as SF Standard and the Frisc are also worth a read.
And for op-eds with real content, #48Hills is excellent - but a distinct POV.

So I have to look at multiple sites, but combined I get a pretty good sense of what's going on, especially when you understand each entity's particular biases.

@cR0w
https://statesnewsroom.com/

>States Newsroom is the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, with reporting from every capital. We shine a light on policy and politics in all 50 states and we provide that coverage for free; no pop-ups, paywalls or ads.
>In an era of rampant disinformation and growing news deserts, we provide non-partisan coverage of the state issues that most affect people’s daily lives.