The Summerland Advocate-Messenger - Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community

When it comes to saving local newspapers, the solutions won't be found in web metrics, ad rates or shrinking news holes. The solution, seemingly simple yet terrifying complicated, is for newspapers to reconnect with the people they're supposed to be serving.

That's the purpose of The Relevance Project, a national effort intended to make local journalism so relevant to people's lives that papers will once again become an essential purchase. The Newspaper Association Managers, a coalition of trade associations serving daily and weekly newspapers and new websites in North America, is coordinat...