MyLocalPress.com launches to help revive local news in small towns

MyLocalPress.com has launched a publishing platform aimed at independent journalists and community publishers in small towns, rural areas and underserved markets. The service is designed to lower startup costs, simplify publishing and help communities regain consistent local coverage.

Why it matters: - Local news coverage has thinned across the U.S., leaving many communities without regular reporting on schools, city halls, public safety, businesses and neighborhood life. - MyLocalPress.com is aimed at making local journalism cheaper and faster to launch, which could help more communities regain a local news source. - Researchers at Northwestern University’s Medill Local News Initiative found the U.S. has lost more than one-third of its newspapers since 2005. - The same research counted 127 newspaper closures in a recent 12-month period and nearly 55 million Americans with limited or no access to local news.

What happened: - MyLocalPress.com officially launched on August 9, 2026, in Miami Beach, Florida. - The platform is built for independent journalists, community publishers, civic-minded entrepreneurs and other local news creators. - The service is designed to help users publish from a smartphone or desktop computer and offer a printable edition for subscribers. - The company said the platform is intended to help restore reliable local news coverage in small towns, rural communities, neighborhoods and underserved markets.

The details: - MyLocalPress.com is positioned as a modern publishing platform that reduces overhead and simplifies launching a local news operation. - The platform is designed to handle website publishing, online distribution and support for print-style editions. - Users are meant to focus on reporting, reader relationships and trust instead of building newspaper infrastructure from scratch. - The platform is meant to support coverage of public meetings, elections, high school sports, local businesses, faith and nonprofit groups, neighborhood events, public safety, obituaries and human-interest stories. - MyLocalPress.com says it is inviting local journalists, freelance reporters, former newspaper professionals, community publishers, civic leaders, chamber members, neighborhood advocates and local entrepreneurs to explore the service. - The company’s website is MyLocalPress.com. - The company also listed social accounts on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and X.

Between the lines: - The launch reflects a broader effort to rebuild local news through lower-cost digital tools rather than the traditional newspaper model. - MyLocalPress.com is betting that local publishers can become sustainable if they can start with less technical and financial overhead. - The platform also taps nostalgia for printed newspapers by keeping a printable edition in the mix. - Co-founder Adam Smith framed the launch as a response to community need, saying local news still matters when newspapers close and residents still need information about city hall, schools, businesses and local events. - Smith said the platform was built to help local news thrive again.

What's next: - MyLocalPress.com is asking communities and potential publishers to sign up and explore the platform. - The company is pitching the service as a way to launch new local news outlets or restore coverage where newspapers have disappeared. - The platform’s next test will be whether independent journalists and local entrepreneurs adopt it at enough scale to make more community news operations viable.

The bottom line: - MyLocalPress.com is trying to turn local news revival into a low-overhead startup path for people willing to cover their own communities.