The Sebastopol Protocol
A $330,000 proposal to turn hyperlocal news from a passion project into a professionalized civic utility.
Last week, I looked at two disparate pieces of the media puzzle and realized they were describing the same catastrophe. On one hand, you have the Pew Research Center confirming that Americans still value local information; on the other, you have Justin Bank’s analysis of the grim financial reality facing the industry. When you put them together, you arrive at the hyperlocal economics nobody wants to admit: Americans are not subscribing to “news.” They are subscribing to hyperlocal civic participation—with gusto.
The Sebastopol Times converts 24.5% of its readers into paying members. That is 160x more effective, per capita, than metro papers languishing in the 3% News Payment Conversion “Volume Trap.” The point wasn’t that one progressive outlet in small-town California happened to get lucky. It’s that the entire industry has its unit economics flipped upside down.
But let’s go one step further than drawing charts. If we believe that extreme proximity is the ONLY financially viable direction forward—and let’s be clear, that conversion rate demands it—we have to change how we treat hyperlocal newsrooms. We need to stop treating them like “passion projects” operated by burnt-out freelancers. We need to start treating them like the essential civic infrastructure they already are. That mindset change means professionalizing the infrastructure that supports those reporters. Because without building a replicable “Coordination Layer,” we’ll never overcome the news drought.
Why Cheltenham? Why Now?
In the spirit of prove-it-all-night, I’m proposing a pilot right here in my hometown. Codenamed the Sebastopol Protocol, it is a cluster journalism experiment designed to validate my thesis 1:1.
Instead of just “replicating” Sebastopol, I’m proposing we piggyback off three adjacent communities that make up the heart of Cheltenham Township. I am clustering Elkins Park, Glenside, and Jenkintown—distinct neighborhoods with their own identities, but shared municipal stakes—onto one shared “Backstory Hub”.
For those outside the 215 area code: these communities sit just across the northern border of Philadelphia in Montgomery County. They are “first-ring” suburbs—historic, dense, and deeply interconnected by the SEPTA regional rail lines. I’m choosing these areas because they represent the diversity of the “first-ring” experience. This cluster is a microcosm of the region—racially, economically, and socially.
These aren’t just zip codes; they are high-intent “civic islands.” By testing the model in a cluster that ranges from 18% to 42% non-white residency, I’m proving that revenue density isn’t a “wealthy enclave” phenomenon. It’s a human one. It’s about people who are invested in where they live.
Since I’m already on the ground, I am willing to donate the strategic leadership and coordination time needed to get the hub off the floor. More importantly, my neighborhood is full of media veterans and digital strategists. I’ve already begun enlisting industry colleagues who are ready to volunteer their time or serve on a board of advisors. I believe we have the collective expertise to turn these “islands of information” into a connected, professional network.
Stop explaining journalism. What do I do?
I’m not here to prove journalists can write. I’m here to prove that revenue density is unlocked through building professional capacity. Specifically, I want to prove three things:
Financial Health: Let’s close that economics gap. If a town of ~10,000 people can reach a $15 ARR target per capita, we can prove that sustainable journalism doesn’t need more freelancers. It needs better systems.
Operational Resilience (The Plumbing): Strip away the freelance overhead and we can run an effective newsroom on $100k. One shared Professional Employer Organization (PEO) and we can prove local news staffers CAN afford to stay in business without burning out.
Journalistic Impact: Local journalism shouldn’t just close gaps. It should help residents understand how to show up better at public meetings. When people know the backstory, civic participation closes the loop.
The Insight: Every legitimate newsroom operates under the assumption that if they cover something well enough, people will pay. I’m here to prove that sustainability is a plumbing problem, not a content problem.
Where does this plan live?
This isn’t groundbreaking. Organizations like CoastAlaska, the Tiny News Collective, and Indiegraf have proven pieces of this. But all of them are missing the shared secret sauce I believe can elevate all hyperlocal newsrooms at once: professional employment and a PEO within a geographic cluster.
To operate at real speed, the pilot will be fiscally sponsored. It will follow the already-established best practices of the Institute for Nonprofit News, including their gold-standard policies around editorial independence and transparency.
Culture doesn’t kill itself. I’ll build it.
The Shield Mentality. When we operate under the mindset that the “Coordination Layer” is literally a Shield, incidents that would normally soak up a reporter’s time are transferred immediately to the Hub. My job is not doing journalism. It is enabling theirs.
Radical Autonomy. Each lead will meet weekly with the other two reporters to troubleshoot problems across silos—not up a chain of command.
Depth Over Breadth. There is no pressure to “win” the day on social media. We will implement mandatory “disconnection blocks” to ensure time off is, in fact, time off.
Professionalization: No Mahogany Desks
Hyperlocal journalism usually dies in the “hobbyist” phase. To get the 20% conversion rates this pilot needs, the lead strategist in each town has to be a professional. That means $70,000 salaries and institutional-grade benefits. In this pilot, the “Coordination Layer” acts as the employer of record through a PEO.
The backend runs on Ghost, an open-source, flat-fee publishing platform. The operation is remote-first. There are no leases, no reception desks, and no conference rooms. The strategist’s office is the local coffee shop, the library, and the front row of the zoning board meeting.
The $330,000 Bridge
I am moving away from the “grant for life” model. This $330k seed investment acts as the bridge to self-sustainability. The grant covers the first 12 months of professional salaries and the total front-loaded cost of the “Coordination Layer.” By Month 13, our target 20% conversion rate should generate the monthly recurring revenue required to carry the staff through the end of the pilot and beyond.
$210,000: The Strategists. 12 months of salary for three town leads.
$36,000: The Professional Safety Net. Comprehensive health, dental, and liability.
$30,000: The Platform. Ghost hosting, operations fees, and FOIA tool reimbursement.
$30,000: Fiscal Sponsorship. Professional oversight and compliance (10%).
$24,000: The Growth Engine. Saturation marketing for member acquisition.
An Honest Failure Is STILL a Success.
After 18 months, what’s going to happen? If I don’t hit the numbers, we won’t shut down. We’ll publish all the data. Every contract. Every marketing benchmark. We want the next person who runs this experiment to learn from our mistakes.
But if we do succeed, month 18 initiates an audit. We will measure how close we are to going off-brand funds. Can a community-owned trust take the equipment left behind and turn it into a utility that pays for itself?
Finding a viable 'yes' to that question turns local news from a precarious experiment into a permanent public asset. It’s the difference between a town that is informed by accident and one that is informed by design.
The Invitation
I’ve spent the last week stress-testing the math and the infrastructure behind this model—much to my wife’s exhaustion. I have an 18-month budget, a tech implementation plan, and a draft governance charter ready for the right partners.
If you are a funder, a civic leader, or a media strategist who wants to see the “plumbing” of a sustainable newsroom, let’s talk. You can reach me directly by replying to this email or via LinkedIn.
Executive Summary: The Sebastopol Protocol
A Proposed 18-Month Hyperlocal Cluster Pilot
Project Goal: Achieve a 20% reader-to-member conversion in a coordinated three-town cluster (Elkins Park, Glenside, Jenkintown), reaching the $15 ARR per capita “Success Metric” to become a self-sustaining civic utility by Month 13.
The $330,000 Bridge Investment:
Runway: 100% coverage of all professional salaries and operational costs for the first 12 months, including a 10% fiscal sponsorship fee.
Sustainability Goal: Targeted revenue density from community subscriptions replaces “brand funds” (grants) between Month 13 and Month 18.
The Professional Safety Net: Eliminating “Hobbyist” burnout by using a PEO to provide institutional-grade benefits and a legal/administrative “Shield” for local leads.
Governance & Infrastructure:
Oversight: Fiscally sponsored (501c3 status) and fully compliant with INN standards for editorial independence and transparency.
Tech Stack: A flat-fee, open-source backend (Ghost) to ensure community revenue funds journalism, not platform margins.
Deliverable: A public “Replicability Playbook” containing all budget data, contracts, and growth benchmarks to serve as a blueprint for other “first-ring” suburban clusters.
Who is missing from this cluster? I’ve already started enlisting colleagues, but this only works if the plumbing is airtight. If you’re a strategist, funder, or tech lead with a better way to build or reinforce the ‘Shield,’ leave a comment or hit reply. I want to make sure the infrastructure is ready before we turn the water on.
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