Just launched in New Jersey, The Local News Lab encompasses six local journalism sites and will work to bolster revenue models of both nonprofit and for profit news. The goal is sustainability in the local news ecosystem.

This project is supported by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the Knight Foundation, with funding announced in February.Josh Stearns, who has been dedicated to the sphere of this spirit of news and community engagement, was brought on as director.

The six pilot sites in the group are being directed towards what is typically an underserved market in the Mid-Atlantic region -- since news about New Jersey can be lost in the din of neighboring New York City and Philadelphia. The sites include:

• Jersey Shore Hurricane News
• Brick City Live
• The Lo-Down
• Morristown Green
• New Brunswick Today
• Sheepshead Bites

Each site in the Lab has fewer than five employees, and a unique approach to serving their local community.

This model of media is open to experimentation, to discover what works to make news media sustainable, and to see what might be improved. The focus on hyperlocal news will allow the organization to put these communities under a fascinating microscope.