Transforming RI’s Media — GoLocal’s 10th Year Anniversary
GoLocalProv News Team
Transforming RI’s Media — GoLocal’s 10th Year Anniversary
Between April 28, 2010 and now, GoLocal has done what few other news start-ups have done— transformed their state’s media landscape.
While GoLocal has been growing and innovating, much of Rhode Island’s media was being bought or sold by out-of-state conglomerates. TV stations in Rhode Island sold two to three times. Newspapers have been pummeled by corporate owners.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTToday, GoLocal is the only Rhode Island-owned statewide news source.
Co-founded by Josh Fenton and Paul Krasinski, the digital news site was created to become the next model for local news and much more.
In 2017, the company launched GoLocal LIVE - a daily live broadcast that has interviewed many of the most interesting people in Rhode Island and from across the world. GoLocal LIVE has hosted world leaders, broadcast live from the yellow vest protests in Paris, and tapped some of the biggest thinkers in realtime.
When GoLocal launched, the Providence Journal claimed a newsroom of more than 120 reporters, editors, and copywriters. Now, the paper has fewer than 15 reporters — and those remaining are facing furloughs. It is a changed and digital world.
Today, GoLocal features more former Providence Journal columnists -- Robert Whitcomb, Dr. Ed Iannuccilli, Scott Turner, and Will Morgan -- than the newspaper has today.
"We saw that newspapers could not pivot their businesses to align with a digital reality. There is an opportunity to interview people from Pawtucket and Ireland and capture both local and global perspectives," said Fenton. "Rhode Island is an amazing place with tremendously talented writers, producers, and thinkers."
In the middle of the Great Recession, GoLocalProv.com was launched. Now, the 10th-anniversary party is on hold during a global pandemic.
"We will be announcing a number of new initiatives -- think Netflix-style documentaries about the most interesting people and events in Rhode Island," said Fenton. "We owe a tremendous thank you to Rhode Islanders for believing in a Rhode Island company."
Watch GoLocal Live Interviews Today Discussing Ten Year History
10:30 AM - Tracey Minkin, Travel Editor, Coastal Living and Former Lifestyle Editor at GoLocal
11:00 AM - Paul Krasinski, CEO, Founder at Epicenter Experience and Co-Founder of GoLocal
2:30 PM - Kate Nagle, GoLocal News Editor
