Preserve the Record. Protect Local News.
Local news organizations document the day-to-day life of communities—holding institutions accountable, capturing local history, and telling stories that would otherwise go unrecorded. Ensuring that this work remains accessible over time has become increasingly challenging.
That’s why Portico is working with a small group of news publishers to explore scalable and sustainable approaches to preserving digital news content for the long term.
Why preserve newspaper content?
For over a decade, members of the library, archives, and journalism communities have raised concerns about whether digital news is being adequately preserved as the industry shifts from print to digital.
As legacy newspapers move online, reduce or end print operations, and in some cases close altogether, preserving hyperlocal and community-focused reporting is essential to capturing an inclusive historical record. For local news organizations already operating with limited time and resources, long-term preservation is important, but often difficult to prioritize.
A pilot approach built for newsrooms
Portico has more than two decades of experience preserving digital content at scale. Through this pilot, we are exploring how that model might be adapted to meet the realities of modern news publishing.
We are currently working with a limited number of news organizations and platforms to test what is feasible, sustainable, and useful.
As part of this pilot, we aim to:
- Reduce the burden on newsrooms for preservation by requiring minimal time and technical effort
- Work with existing platforms where possible, including environments such as WordPress and BLOX
- Preserve published content in a structured way, including articles and associated media
- Learn what is needed to support news preservation at scale
We work collaboratively with participating organizations and, where applicable, their platform providers. Not all platforms or use cases can be supported at this stage, but we are actively expanding what is possible.
How it works
Participation in the pilot is designed to be straightforward and simple:
- Share the URL of your site so we can do an initial compatibility assessment
- Schedule a short introductory conversation typically lasting 30 minutes
- Review and sign a short agreement
- We begin the preservation process in collaboration with your platform
- Access your archived content once available in Portico
Note: Some sites may require additional steps to allow our tools to access content. We’ll outline any requirements during the initial assessment and conversation.
Who should participate?
We are currently looking to work with local and regional news organizations who:
- Publish digital content on a regular basis
- Are interested in exploring options for long-term preservation
- Are open to participating in a pilot effort that may evolve over time
We may not be able to support every organization immediately, but welcome the opportunity to learn more about your publication to determine whether there is a fit.
Get Involved
If you’re interested in learning more or exploring participation in the pilot, we’d welcome a conversation.