OPINION: Trust is the real business model of local news
Feb 17, 2026
DAN NADEAU
CEO and Founder | Payway
Local journalism survives because communities believe in it. Full stop!
That belief is built over time through accurate reporting, accountability, consistency, and showing up when it matters. It is all about trust.
I’ve spent my career alongside local newspapers as someone who has helped build and support the systems that keep them running. My company, Payway (formerly Edgil) grew up inside journalism and the publishing industry. We have worked with local papers, circulation teams, and newsroom leaders long before digital subscriptions became the norm. That history shapes everything we do today.
Local journalism hasn’t disappeared. In many communities, it has stabilized and, in some ways, become more essential than ever. National news is everywhere. What people can’t easily find is reporting that explains how decisions affect their town, their schools, their taxes, their neighbors. When local journalism does that well, people notice and they stay engaged.
But trust today extends beyond the reporting itself.
Readers experience trust through every interaction they have with a publication. If subscribing is confusing, if payments fail without explanation, or if customer support feels disconnected, trust erodes quietly. These moments don’t generate headlines, but they influence whether a reader feels valued or frustrated and whether they stay or leave.
That’s why infrastructure matters.
Most newspapers operate in a hybrid reality of print and digital; legacy systems and modern platforms and; workflows built over decades layered with newer technology. It’s complex, and it’s not something you can simply “rip and replace.”
Because Payway has worked in this environment for so long and alongside the partners who built these systems we understand how newspapers actually function day to day. That allows us to support publishers in a way that feels less like a vendor relationship and more like working with someone who’s been there before.
That distinction matters to the newspapers we serve and to us.
Local journalism doesn’t need partners who are experimenting on it. It needs partners who respect its role in communities and understand the responsibility that comes with supporting it. That’s why our involvement in journalism-focused organizations and local news initiatives isn’t incidental, but it is personal. We believe in journalism as a civic institution.
Some of the most encouraging signs I’ve seen recently have come from newspapers leaning back into community and not just through coverage, but through connection. Whether it’s a newsroom hosting conversations with readers or partnering with local businesses to bring people together, those efforts reinforce why local journalism remains irreplaceable. You can’t replicate that with national scale or algorithms.
Local journalism will continue to change. Print will shrink. Digital will grow. Business models will evolve. But the foundation remains the same that trust, consistency, and relationships will endure.
The future of local journalism is being shaped by those who understand it and partner with people who respect, support and help the community and Payway will continue to be there for it.
