A new book, Saving Community Journalism: The Path to Profitability, explores the challenges and opportunities that smaller local news organizations face amid digital disruption of the industry.

The author, Penelope Muse Abernathy, studied a dozen newspapers around the country, ranging from a weekly with a circulation of 7,000 to a daily with 55,000. Abernathy notes that while the travails of newspapers in larger markets get a lot of attention, thousands of  smaller-market news organizations actually produce most local news.

The book aims to "show how newspapers can build community online and identify new opportunities to generate revenue."

The book has a companion website, www.savingcommunityjournalism.com with additional resources.

Abernathy is the Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics at the University of North Carolina.