Chuck Todd Calls for a Local News Reboot to Restore Trust in Media
What you will learn from this article:
Why Chuck Todd believes the collapse of local news destroyed public trust in media
How his new for-profit model uses youth sports and service journalism to rebuild communities
What communicators can learn from Todd’s call to embrace influencer-style local storytelling
At the 2025 Mid-Atlantic MarCom Summit in Washington, D.C., former Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd took the stage with Axios media correspondent Sara Fischer to deliver one of the event’s most anticipated conversations, a candid fireside chat about the fractured media landscape and his new for-profit effort to revitalize local journalism.
Now host of The Chuck Toddcast and an investor in independent media startup Newsphere, Todd described his new mission as a “reanimation of local news” that focuses on service journalism and sustainability. “We have to rebuild local if we’re ever going to get trust again on the national level,” he said. “National media’s never had trust. What we had was local media that gave us character references.”
Todd argued that local news is a civic resource and it’s the foundation for restoring public trust. He pointed to the collapse of classified advertising and the rise of social media as inflection points that “knocked out the foundation of local news.” His new initiative aims to create scalable local media models built around what he calls “service journalism,” coverage that helps people live their daily lives, from youth sports to food affordability.
One cornerstone of Todd’s new vision is youth and high school sports, which he called “the single most important advertiser demographic right now.” Parents of youth athletes, largely millennials, are a prime market for localized content and sponsorship. “Local advertisers hate Google,” Todd quipped. “They’d love something more personal. That’s the opportunity.”
The veteran journalist also spoke bluntly about the business realities of legacy media. He recalled former GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt and Comcast CEO Brian Roberts both referring to NBC News as “5 percent of my bottom line, 95 percent of my headaches.” Todd warned communicators to take note of this corporate mindset. “When you hear a CEO call their news division the ‘crown jewel,’ what they really mean is they’re locking it in grandma’s attic,” he said, arguing that true innovation will now come from independent ventures rather than conglomerates.
Throughout the discussion, Todd emphasized that good journalism must evolve alongside audience expectations. “Good journalism is helping people navigate the DMV just as much as finding out if the president’s corrupt,” he said. He called for a cultural shift in journalism education, urging schools to reclaim the value of community service over the pursuit of Pulitzers.
Todd also acknowledged the changing relationship between audiences and reporters, noting that “we have to embrace the influencer model.” He suggested that future local newsrooms could be powered by trusted individual curators—experts and personalities who act as community connectors within larger organizations.
On technology, Todd described himself as a “short-term pessimist, long-term optimist” on artificial intelligence. He expressed concern over the unchecked power of algorithms and the urgent need for regulatory oversight, saying the public’s lack of control over algorithmic influence is “the relationship that has to be flipped before we can restore trust.”
For communicators and media leaders, Todd’s remarks offered both a diagnosis and a call to action: rebuild trust through service, empower local storytelling, and reconnect journalism with people’s everyday lives. “Red America and Blue America both love their kids,” he said. “If we start there, we can start knitting communities back together.”
