LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Insider Louisville, the digitally native local news site, will stop publishing on Aug. 7, ending its nine-year run.
In a message to readers posted Monday evening, the nonprofit organization that employs six reporters said “the cost of operating has been too great to overcome.”
The site, founded in 2010 by former Business First reporter Terry Boyd, started as a business-focused blog.
In 2013, Boyd sold Insider Louisville to serial entrepreneur Tom Cottingham, and investors such as Humana Inc. board member David Jones Jr. tried to make the site into a sustainable local news business.
In 2017 the investors gave up on the for-profit model and decided to convert Insider Louisville to a charitable organization. Funding shifted to grants and donations from individuals, corporations and foundations.
The decision announced Monday means six reporters covering politics, government, education, healthcare and other topics will be out of a job, along with an editor and two community engagement specialists.
“Insider responded to a need in the community for informative, long-form investigative news – without a paywall,” Insider Louisville said in the post Monday. “Hopefully, #loumedia (Louisville media) will keep local and state officials honest and continue to push for much-needed transparency. It is no longer hyperbole to say that Democracy hangs in the balance. Louisville will have a much better future because of such dogged reporting.”
