It’s been just about a year since new owners took over Lansing’s City Pulse.
The Michigan Independent Media Group (MIMG) acquired the alt-weekly to add to its portfolio of small, local publications in the state.
Lonnie Scott is the CEO of Buried Lede Media and part of the ownership group. He says City Pulse readers should not have noticed too many changes since MIMG took over, but the publication has gotten a new website redesign and will be bringing on a new reporter later this month.
"We're looking at all of those as to how do we make sure that we can get the paper into as many hands as possible," he said.
"We continue to want to invest in local journalists."
MIMG owns City Pulse, Tribune Recorder Leader, Yale Expositor, Tri-City Times and the Hamtramck Review. The group has also partnered with Civic Media to acquire five radio stations in the Upper Peninsula. All of these acquisitions have come together in the past year or so.
Scott says being able to consolidate resources between the publications is vital to their model and could be an example for how to think about local journalism in 2026.
"A lot of times when the bigger conglomerates come in, they try to cut their way to prosperity, and you're seeing ghost news rooms. Our approach is the exact opposite," he said. "We come in, and the majority of the staff, or anyone who wants to stay is invited to stay, and then we try to find the efficiencies on the other end, where we're combining things like the tools and access that people can use that individually, these papers are spending a lot of money on."
He says readers will still have options to get their papers in print but MIMG wants to expand their audience with new ways to reach people.
"We are embracing technology and going to be doing newsletters and online versions, and really using social media, so we're we're not going to stagnate on just, you know, trying to offer the things that were offered before."
Interview Highlights
On small changes at City Pulse
They may have noticed recently a brand new website. I don't know how many people pay super close attention to the background platforms of the websites or of the newsletters, but those who do would certainly notice that all of that technology has shifted. They will soon notice later in July an additional reporter at City Pulse that we're very excited to bring on to the team, and and more of those efficiencies again that are behind the scenes, so you know, the reporting, the quality, the printing, all of those things. I think folks wouldn't see a difference at all, but certainly the background technology and those things that are supporting the staff and investing in more of the local journalists are things that we've been working on for the past year.
On MIMG's model
A lot of times when the bigger conglomerates come in, they try to cut their way to prosperity, and you're seeing ghost news rooms. Our approach is the exact opposite. We come in, and the majority of the staff, or anyone who wants to stay, is invited to stay, and then we try to find the efficiencies on the other end, where we're combining things like the tools and access that people can use that individually, these papers are spending a lot of money on, but when we can combine, you know, those things into this single group, we can see some savings there that that make a big difference in especially the smaller publications.
On new ways of reaching readers
We are embracing technology and going to be doing newsletters and online versions, and really using social media, so we're we're not going to stagnate on just, you know, trying to offer the things that were offered before. We're certainly going to try to provide that news in different formats and try to grow readership in all those areas, however we can. So, to that point, yes, I think people are going to, you know, have to change a little bit, but really it's about meeting people where they're at, and so if you still want the print newspaper to hold it in your hand, you still are going to have that option. If you'd prefer to check us out on our websites or in an e-newsletter, we're making that available now.
Interview Transcript
Sophia Saliby: It’s been just about a year since new owners took over Lansing’s City Pulse.
The Michigan Independent Media Group acquired the alt-weekly to add to its portfolio of small, local publications in the state.
Lonnie Scott is the CEO of Buried Lede Media and part of the ownership group, and he joins me now to talk about the future of City Pulse. Thank you for joining us.
Lonnie Scott: Thanks for having me.
Saliby: So, what have you learned in this past year managing an alt-weekly?
Scott: Oh, wow, a lot. I learned that I am glad that there are professional journalists who do this. So, relying heavily on our managing editor Mike Ellis and our COO of Buried Lede Media Sarah Leach to make sure that we're still providing all of the things that folks you know have come to expect from City Pulse.
Saliby: What changes have been made so far, or what might readers of City Pulse might have noticed that's a little bit different?
Scott: Well, actually, hopefully they haven't noticed much because many of the changes have been behind the scenes, but we are investing in things like new technology, so they may have noticed recently a brand new website. I don't know how many people pay super close attention to the background platforms of the websites or of the newsletters, but those who do would certainly notice that all of that technology has shifted.
They will soon notice later in July an additional reporter at City Pulse that we're very excited to bring on to the team, and more of those efficiencies again that are behind the scenes, so you know, the reporting, the quality, the printing, all of those things. I think folks wouldn't see a difference at all, but certainly the background technology and those things that are supporting the staff and investing in more of the local journalists are things that we've been working on for the past year.
Saliby: You mentioned a little bit about what's coming up ahead, but are there any other plans you can tell us about the future of City Pulse?
Scott: Yeah, I mean, we would love to be able to expand readership and figuring out what those different options are. Several other publications within the Buried Lede and MIMG group have varying distribution methods, and I don't want to get ahead of myself, but you know we're looking at all of those as to how do we make sure that we can get the paper into as many hands as possible.
I think, you know, we continue to want to invest in local journalists, and I think that certainly helps, as well as we talk about, you know, what are the types of features or stories or those things that that we can make sure that we're including. I think we cover a pretty wide range right now, but all of those discussions remain ongoing about what we can do to continuously improve.
Saliby: More and more, we're seeing local newspapers get bought up by larger media conglomerates or shut down because they can't compete. MIMG now has five publications in its portfolio. Is this kind of a model for keeping small papers alive?
Scott: I certainly hope so. We believe so. We think we're taking the best of both worlds in that these small community papers mean so much to the communities that they're in, and you know, a lot of times when the bigger conglomerates come in, they try to cut their way to prosperity, and you're seeing ghost news rooms.
Our approach is the exact opposite. We come in, and the majority of the staff, or anyone who wants to stay is invited to stay, and then we try to find the efficiencies on the other end, where we're combining things like the tools and access that people can use that individually, these papers are spending a lot of money on, but when we can combine, you know, those things into this single group, we can see some savings there that that make a big difference in especially the smaller publications.
So, our goal is to change that method of how local journalism and how people see that when these acquisitions happen. And I think that's actually why as publishers are aging out, or as people are looking at selling their smaller publications, why people are actually reaching out to us, because they know that we're not coming in and gutting the newsroom or simply trying to become a mouthpiece for one political party or the other, or all of these other things that we've seen happen over the course of the past couple of years. We are actually coming in to try to sustain and grow local journalism in all of those areas that we're in.
And I think you know we're now a little over a year into this, and I think people are seeing that, and I think that we're not just talking about it, we're doing it, and I think that that's been important, and I certainly think that you know we're doing our best to prove that that model can work.
Saliby: On the other end of things, you know, the way people consume and buy news is much different than when these papers were founded. Is it going to take a shift in mentality for residents of these communities, for news consumers to kind of accept, or, you know, take on new responsibilities with how they interact with local media?
Scott: I think so in some instances, but in a lot of these cases, I think people still like to have the tangible newspaper, they like to pick up, you know, the paper and feel it in their hands and see it, and I actually think the younger generations are going back to that, right, that they want more than just digital. But in the areas where they have been print only, you know, I think about the Yale Expositor as an example. We are embracing technology and going to be doing newsletters and online versions, and really using social media, so we're we're not going to stagnate on just, you know, trying to offer the things that were offered before.
We're certainly going to try to provide that news in different formats and try to grow readership in all those areas, however we can. So, to that point, yes, I think people are going to, you know, have to change a little bit, but really it's about meeting people where they're at, and so if you still want the print newspaper to hold it in your hand, you still are going to have that option. If you'd prefer to check us out on our websites or in an e-newsletter, we're making that available now.
And being able to streamline those operations again, going back to the question you asked me earlier, is something that a lot of these local smaller papers weren't able to do until now we're able to bring that technology because we find that efficiency with it being a larger group, and so we're able to offer things that I think the individual publishers probably wanted to but weren't cost effective or feasible for them and so we're able to do that, and hopefully that expands how we're reaching people.
Saliby: Lonnie Scott is part of the Michigan Independent Media Group, which owns Lansing City Pulse. Thank you for joining us.
Scott: Thank you so much for the time.
This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and conciseness.
