Our digital news kiosks drive multiple impacts:

Expand audience

80% of San Franciscans don’t read regularly any local news. Putting local news kiosks in public spaces allows San Francisco’s 800,000 residents and 150,000 daily visitors to engage with community information on a regular basis for the first time.

Build community

These community kiosks, along with recurring Neighborhood Feedback Days, facilitate in-person interaction in neighborhoods

Irrigate news deserts

We bring critical news to communities that are struggling under wealth disparities, inequities, and perceptions of San Francisco. Hyperlocal news deserts such as the Bayview, a historically Black neighborhood considered “the most isolated neighborhood in San Francisco,” are our first pilot locations.

Meet unmet information needs

By creating a direct feedback link between residents and news providers, newsrooms who “adopt a kiosk” will better address unmet needs.

Generate revenue

Through our innovative business model, kiosks in the Mission financially support newsrooms like El Tecolote and Mission Local. Increased funding for newsrooms allows them to hire more staff and be more responsive to communities, stemming a local news crisis and creating a stronger and more independent ecosystem.

Become a national model

Community News Lab creates a playbook for how newsrooms around the country can think outside the box— reach their audience not just on their phones, but in meaningful public spaces. As community media thrives and neighborhood sense of belonging increases, democracy indicators begin to shift. We see reduced polarization and higher voter turnout. San Francisco becomes a scalable model on how to bolster democratic institutions.