Focused on ensuring both the supply of and demand for high quality local news and information at a time of unprecedented change.

The Steinman Institute for Civic Engagement was created by WITF following the Steinman Family’s gift of LNP to WITF in 2023. Prompted by that gift, The Steinman Foundation made a five-year grant to WITF to provide seed funding to establish the Institute.   

The Steinman Institute for Civic Engagement is supporting the merger of WITF & LNP, the first merger of its kind outside of a major metro area in the country. It is focused on ensuring the supply of local media at a time of unprecedented change – ensuring the essential public good that is local media endures for generations. At the same time, it is using Lancaster County as a laboratory to address the underlying demand for local media through innovation, education and civic engagement.  

Why does the Steinman Institute Exist?  

The internet, unregulated social media, and the rise of artificial intelligence have knocked local journalism off its foundation. Since the mid-2000s, more than 2,500 newspapers have stopped publishing and employment at US newspapers has declined more than 50%. Many remaining newspapers are now owned by public companies or hedge funds without regard to the communities they purportedly serve.  

When communities lose their newspapers, they are negatively impacted in quantifiable ways: Municipal borrowing costs increase, civic engagement diminishes, fewer people run for public office and polarization increases.  

Local media maintains core community connections, it informs and educates, it gives voice to all, it promotes the local economy, and it keeps government and elected officials accountable at every level. Effective local media has the power to connect and unify rather than divide and polarize. It is a critical ingredient in creating and sustaining democracy itself.