Albany, CA, group wants to 'bring local news back' to town

A community group in Albany, California, that hopes to help found a new local news site is circulating a short survey to learn what their neighbors want to read.

The all-volunteer group hopes to help back a general interest news site run by a professional journalist — with plenty of room for local dialogue through comments and op-eds in addition to traditional articles.

The group is made up of a dozen or so Albany residents, many of whom have lived in the community for decades, if not longer.

Most have been active in other community efforts and some have journalism or publishing backgrounds.

What unites them is a desire to fill a critical news need that will help inform the broader Albany community.

"We are living in a news desert!" the group writes in the brief introduction to its survey. "Two of our only news sources, The Albany/El Cerrito/Kensington Journal and Albany Patch, no longer cover much Albany news."

Scanner founder Emilie Raguso got involved with the group as an informal advisor, having only recently founded TBS and come away with lessons she hopes could inform the fledgling effort.

While not an Albanian herself, Raguso launched and ran Albany Patch from 2010-12, forming relationships in the close-knit community that continue to this day.

The community news group volunteers began meeting last year to brainstorm how to approach the creation of a news outlet, hearing from other local news publishers and getting up to speed on funding models that might work.

The group is now seeking input, through the new survey, from Albany residents and other members of the Albany community on what they want to read about.

The site will focus on Albany, "covering government, public safety, commercial and residential development, schools, recreation and sports, transportation, and the community at large," the group writes.

The group is also trying to get insights on what community members might pay for such a service, conceptually — and soliciting names for the new journalism endeavor.

Survey takers can choose from a list of naming options or suggest their own ideas. The group hopes to continue to collect community input as the operation firms up.

For now, it's very much a grassroots effort: The organizers hope their plans might catch the eye of a veteran journalist interested in leading the charge.

This could be a "solopreneur" who has the backing of an engaged "friends group" or some other arrangement, structure to be determined.

If you live or work in Albany, California, please fill out the survey and consider sharing it with your friends, neighbors and community groups.