Saving local news, one page at a time.

13 Stars + you = saving local news

We are on a mission.

help us save 1,000 hometown newspapers & magazines in the U.S.

Making Communities Better through Print.™

Serving local communities is what we do

Prior to 2020, we would have told you we were very happy with our current model, and the slow-growth plan we were operating under. All that changed with a little invisible-to-the-eye enemy that put the “emergency brake” on our local and national economy.

Throughout 2020, 13 Stars Media optimized for survival, and out of it we accomplished a surprise feat — the survival of a media species.

From Crisis, opportunity

A mission to save local newspapers

A decade ago, our founders entered the world of print media, believing in readers and subscribers of trusted local news sources. The digital world was surging with new products and services promising revolution and print media as an industry was severely damaged, but the wounds were not fatal. It took a health and economic crisis to finish the job in many communities of killing off local print news, and it worked.

Many local newspapers shuttered, and many others survived on emergency funding or savings. Some weathered the storm with resilience.

At 13 Stars, we built our platform and refined our operations to come out stronger than we went into 2020, defying the odds against the crisis facing small business in California.

We heard the cries from around California and other states in our great union. Communities are not ready to give up their local newspapers.

We are stepping up to meet that need with a mission to save local newspapers — weekly and daily.

Keeping the next generation in focus

We know readers are born every day, in an ever-changing world

The more things change, the more they stay the same. People are people, no matter how small, and they will grow up in need of a good morning read. Small-town newspapers serve hyperlocal needs across America — not just as a passion, but it as a public service. We met the pandemic-level challenges of 2020 with a community fabric held together by a locally owned network of people who care.

We are homegrown, mom & pop, and we have the tools to save your hometown newspaper for the next generation of reader. It isn’t easy, but together we can make a difference that will change the world.

The time is now.

TOGETHER WE CAN

save your hometown newspaper.

SAVE YOUR LOCAL NEWS

Local News Should be Locally owned

Our Platform and Support Network + You

We own and operate our local newspapers here in California. We can operate yours, but we believe it should be locally owned. We are pioneering the next generation of local print media and we have the support network and operations platform to ensure that local journalists who know and care about their community are empowered to perform and inform.

Our sales & leadership platform is engineered for efficiency and performance. We believe local journalists and salespeople deserve more than just a living wage. They serve the Fourth Estate, and the community. They are essential. They deserve a career. Our platform provides the opportunity with flexible options for owner-operators.

There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going. Saving local news is not a Silicon Valley startup IPO or venture capital project. It takes grit, perseverance, and authenticity. It takes commitment.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead

Together, we are that small group. If you know a newspaper worth saving and are ready to make a difference, reach out and grab ahold of a network ready to do some heavy lifting.

Save Your Local News

Our Manifesto, est. 2018:

We believe in people.

We believe in partnerships.

We believe in organic food and a healthy planet and doing our part to preserve it.

We believe in getting it right, the first time, every time.

We believe in our history, and our future.

We believe culture eats strategy for breakfast.

We believe to change anything, create a new model that makes the old model obsolete.

We believe that all ideas are big ideas when they matter to you.

We believe in art, music, sports, education, and kids.

We believe in being the most fun.

We believe handshakes and hugs are better than likes and shares.

We believe Main Street is more powerful than Wall Street.

We believe in holding the door, smiling, waving, and greeting new friends.

We believe small business is a state of mind.

We believe in the magic of teamwork and high fives.

We believe in homemade lemonade and local honey.

We believe in family, friends, and sharing warm bread.

We believe in lighting each other’s candles.

We believe in the Story of Us.

Every day, we all write a small chapter in the story of us. Local news memorializes that story like no other medium. Let’s save local news.

FAQ

Is this mission focused on buying local newspapers, partnering, or providing service and support? All of the above. Our mission is to save local newspapers, and provide the resources needed to do that. We are connecting local newspapers with buyers, partners, or service and support, depending on specific needs.

What size newspapers or magazine companies are you interested in? We are looking at all sizes of news rooms, dedicated to print. There are specific criteria that we will look for, and the mixture of those criteria will determine whether our resources meet the needs of a news room.

Are you looking at independent newspaper companies or larger groups? At the expense of being redundant, it all depends on specific criteria that meets our standards of operation. We can apply our resources to fit single-paper weeklies, dailies, monthlies or others, and can quickly assess the company against our criterion.

How much does the support and services cost? Our support and services are customized from the ground up to empower news rooms to more efficiently perform the daily operations focused on priorities — whether it is lowering overhead or increasing sales, or both, our support and services make a big difference to the bottom line.