Our Purpose
Strong, independent local journalism is crucial to healthy communities, ensuring that they remain engaged and informed. Local news increases civic participation, holds local governments and public officials accountable, elevates community concerns, and much more.
Despite their importance, over 2,100 newspapers have closed since 2004, with this trend showing no sign of stopping. Nearly 70% of counties across the United States no longer have a daily newspaper. The increasing number of news deserts—communities with limited access to credible and comprehensive news that feeds democracy at the grassroots level—has become a crisis. While many communities have seen their local newspaper disappear, others have experienced a reduction of the quality and quantity of reporting across all news media channels as an increasing number of local news outlets have been acquired by investment entities, replacing local ownership.
The Lancaster County Local Journalism Fund was established in 2020 to help support, protect, and expand local journalism in and for Lancaster County by promoting investigative and public interest journalism and media literacy. While so many communities across the United States have lost their daily newspapers and have seen a diminishment of journalistic outlets, our community is fortunate to have a strong presence of quality local journalism, including a 228-year-old daily newspaper, LNP|LancasterOnline. We believe that the community asset of local journalism must be preserved. The efforts of the Lancaster County Local Journalism Fund will ensure the people of Lancaster County continue to be informed, engaged, and empowered by independent local journalism for years to come.
In 2025, The Steinman Institute for Civic Engagement’s Board and Staff joined the Lancaster County Local Journalism Fund. By adding this new capacity and thought leadership, The Lancaster County Local Journalism Fund will be able to leverage new resources and tactics to grow our mission throughout the region.
Board of Managers
The Lancaster County Local Journalism Fund is managed by the following Board of Managers:
Sandra Clark
CEO, StoryCorps
Tracy Cutler
Executive Vice President,
Lancaster County Community Foundation
Susan Eckert
Principal, Eckert Group
Steve Falk
CEO, Sonoma Media Investments, LLC
Lauren Frick
President, Steinman Communications
President, The Steinman Foundation
Vice Chair, Lancaster County Local Journalism Fund
Colby Itkowitz
National Politics Reporter, The Washington Post
Robert Krasne
Chair, Steinman Communications
Co-Chair, The Steinman Foundation
Chair, Lancaster County Local Journalism Fund
Dr. Stephen Medvic
Kunkel Professor of Government and Director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs, Franklin & Marshall College
Secretary, Lancaster County Local Journalism Fund
Aron Pilhofer
Chief Product Officer at Star Tribune Media Company in Minneapolis, MN
Margaret Talev
Kramer Director, Syracuse University Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship
Dr. Judith Wubah
First Lady, Millersville University
Shane Zimmerman
CEO, Steinman Communications
CEO, The Steinman Foundation
Treasurer, Lancaster County Local Journalism Fund
Local Journalism Fund Team
Jess King
Executive Director
Aaron Spangler
Director of Engagement
Our Relationship with The Lancaster County Community Foundation
The Lancaster County Local Journalism Fund, LLC is a collaboration with the Lancaster County Community Foundation to help combat the challenges facing local newspapers and to promote, protect and expand local journalism and media literacy. The Lancaster County Local Journalism Fund is a limited liability company formed under the Lancaster County Community Foundation. The Fund was seeded with a $500,000 grant from The Steinman Foundation in 2020. Although the Fund falls under the umbrella of the Lancaster County Community Foundation, it is its own distinct entity overseen by a separate Board of Managers. The Lancaster County Community Foundation renders specific support and services to the Lancaster County Journalism Fund.