201 Exploring NOLA Advocate’s digital-only Shreveport expansion into a Gannett market that still prints six days a week.

Reporting on the news publishing industry’s fight for survival amid circulation and advertising revenue declines has been focusing more and more on the continuing closure of news outlets, propagating "news deserts," and the downsizing of newsrooms creating "ghost papers."

However, some media companies are finding opportunities during these troubling times by exploring underserved communities' need for local journalism and utilizing current resources to enter these markets with news brands that are finding new audiences and revenues. Recently, E&P reported on the Charleston Post and Courier’s statewide expansion into new South Carolina markets, where existing newspaper newsrooms had been downsized so much that these communities welcomed and embraced the new brands.

Now, similar expansion is taking place in Louisiana as Georges Media Group, the state’s largest news publisher and owners of The Times-Picayune | NOLA.com, The Advocate, Gambit and the Acadiana Advocate, have launched the Shreveport-Bossier City Advocate, a brand new, digital-only news operation in the state’s third largest metropolitan area.

“We were sending reporters up to Shreveport and kept hearing ‘there’s no local reporting of any size, in that market,” stated Judi Terzotis, Publisher of Georges Media Group. "We went on a three-month 'listening tour,' and what we heard was almost jaw-dropping. 'Where do you get your news?' we would ask, and they would literally say, 'There's this guy on Facebook, and he sometimes goes to City Council."

In their July 2023 announcement, the new managing editor Barbara Leader stated, "Shreveport-Bossier is a metro area that is hungry for local news coverage. I'm eager to lead and be part of this group of journalists dedicated to telling stories of the area's arts and culture, business, education, and health care community, as well as crime and local government.”

During this interview with E&P Publisher Mike Blinder, Terzotis admitted, "During our pre-launch 'listening tour,' we were very explicit that we want to bring a 10-person newsroom to Shreveport." She continued to explain that they then asked civic leaders and large business owners to "come to the table" and contribute to make it happen. Terzotis stated that the original goal was to raise $1.5 million in donations for the first three years, and they have reached to date over $500,000.

In this episode of E&P Reports, we chat with Judi Terzotis, the publisher of Georges Media Group, Louisiana's largest local news media company and owners of the New Orleans' Times-Picayune | NOLA.com about their expansion into the state's third largest metro area with the newly launched, digital-only Shreveport-Bossier City Advocate. Also appearing in the interview to explain more about why this new investment fits into their business model and how the news outlet will serve the community are Georges Media Group President Kevin Hall and the new Managing Editor of the Shreveport-Bossier Advocate Barbara Leader.