For a local publisher, deciding what to cover means understanding what matters to the community—and recognizing how much a newsroom can realistically take on. Readers need reporting rooted in the places they live. They also need to understand developments beyond their community that can affect life close to home.
For Rob Galloway, a publisher whose properties include the Tahoe Tribune and Sierra Sun, The Center Square helps connect those needs. Its reporting gives his newsrooms additional coverage to draw from while preserving the hyperlocal approach that guides their own work.
The relationship began with something familiar to many publishers: reading a newsletter. “I was already getting the daily e-newsletter then I stumbled upon a sponsored post that mentioned other publishers could pick up their content for free,” Galloway said in written responses to E&P. “Already knowing what the quality was, it was a no-brainer for me to reach out and get more information.”
That familiarity gave Galloway a basis for evaluating the opportunity. He had seen the reporting. Learning that it was available for republication gave him a practical reason to explore how it could fit into his publications.
Adding coverage around a hyperlocal core
Galloway describes a clear role for The Center Square within his editorial strategy. His publications remain focused on their communities, with supplemental reporting helping them address subjects their staff cannot always reach. “It’s a great supplement to our hyper-local approach,” he said. “While there are many news topics of value for our local communities, we can’t get to them all given our newsroom size. This allows for more comprehensive coverage.”
That is a familiar challenge for local publishers. The number of subjects relevant to readers can exceed the time and staff available to report on them. Each assignment requires choices about where a newsroom’s attention will have the greatest value.
Access to additional reporting gives editors more options as they make those choices. They can evaluate a story’s relevance to their readers and decide whether it adds something useful to the coverage they already produce.
For Galloway, statewide reporting has been particularly helpful. “Yes. While local issues tend to affect our reader the most, there are always statewide topics that can also be important,” he said.
His experience points to a practical connection between local and statewide coverage. A publication’s geographic focus does not mean its readers’ interests stop at the edge of its coverage area. The challenge is finding the broader stories that belong alongside community reporting.
Housing and fire bring the value into focus
Asked which subjects resonate with his readers, Galloway identified two: housing and fire. “Housing and fire will always resonate with our readers given our geographic area and there have been plenty of those stories produced by The Center Square,” he said.
Those examples give substance to the idea of supplemental coverage. For Galloway, the value comes from having access to reporting on subjects he already knows matter to his audience.
They also offer a useful starting point for other publishers evaluating a content partnership. The question is how well the available reporting connects with the subjects their communities follow. Galloway’s answers identify a clear fit between his readers’ interests and stories The Center Square produces.
He did not need to change his publications’ hyperlocal strategy to find that fit. The additional reporting supports a broader view of issues relevant to the same readers his newsrooms serve every day.
An approach the publisher values
Subject matter is one part of the decision to use outside reporting. A publisher also has to be comfortable with how that reporting approaches the news.
For Galloway, that consideration is central to The Center Square’s value. “The biggest value is the approach,” he said. “In today’s news landscape there’s a misconception that news coverage leans one way or another and The Center Square does a great job in reporting down the middle.”
His assessment helps explain why the relationship made sense after his initial exposure through the newsletter. The reporting was already familiar, and its approach was something he valued. The opportunity to republish it brought that existing confidence into his editorial operation.
The working relationship has also been straightforward. Asked to describe his experience with The Center Square team, Galloway answered: “Seamless and easy.”
Giving editors another useful option
Galloway’s advice to other publishers speaks to the value of having a choice. Access to reporting gives an editor another resource to consider as coverage needs arise. “You can either use the content or not,” he said. “Why would you not want the option to supplement your locally produced content and provide more value to your readers and the communities you serve?”
That question captures the practical appeal of his experience: familiar reporting, relevant subjects and an easy working relationship, with each publication deciding what serves its readers.
Asked whether there was anything else he wanted fellow publishers to know, Galloway offered a brief assessment: “It has been nothing but positive.”
To learn more about The Center Square’s Partner Network, contact John Derr at jderr@thecentersquare.com. To support The Center Square’s reporting, contact Laurel Abraham at labraham@thecentersquare.com
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