Why local news in Canada matters — and what some people are doing to try to save it

Over the past two decades, hundreds of local radio, television, print, and online news outlets have shuttered in communities across Canada. But some people and projects are also offering hope for the future of local news in our country. For the latest installment in the series Trust Talks – an ongoing CBC initiative that aims to engage in meaningful conversations about the future of journalism – Piya Chattopadhyay speaks with journalists from a variety of backgrounds about the vital role that local news plays, the challenges and rewards of telling local stories, and new ideas and strategies emerging to enhance local journalism.

The guests featured in this discussion are April Lindgren, a professor at Toronto Metropolitan University's School of Journalism and the principal investigator of the Local News Research Project; Mohsin Abbas, the publisher of Diversity Reporter Media Inc., which publishes four community newspapers in Southwestern Ontario; CBC News Senior Reporter Juanita Taylor, who covers Canada's North; and Nicholas Hune-Brown, executive editor of the Toronto online magazine The Local.

Their conversation took place at the Canadian Association of Journalists' national annual conference in Toronto.