Nextdoor Opens Early Access for Local Journalist Accounts on National Local News Day

Nextdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NXDR) opened early access for Local Journalist Accounts, a new pilot program that provides local journalists with a verified account tied to their name and beat within the communities they cover.

The rollout is timed to coincide with National Local News Day, described as the first coordinated national effort to reconnect communities with local journalism at scale. The initiative is led by a coalition including Montana Free Press, the American Journalism Project, Press Forward, and Rebuild Local News, with more than 1,000 newsrooms signed on.

Pilot program expands from three markets

The early access program builds on a three-month pilot across Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, and Billings, Montana, involving 75+ journalists from newsrooms including the Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Denver Gazette, and Hearst Newspapers’ MySA (MySanAntonio.com).

The pilot tested whether neighbors engage more with a named reporter than with a brand page. The company said early signals from Dallas show engagement metrics indicating neighbor interest, supporting expansion.

What journalist accounts provide

Journalist accounts are tied to a real person’s name, byline, and beat, and are designed to provide DMA-wide distribution from the first post without requiring a follower base. Nextdoor said its verification process requires neighbors to sign up with their real names and addresses.

Early access also includes a new capability: Metro-Wide Search and Feed, which allows journalist accounts to search neighborhood conversations across their entire DMA in real time. The company said a reporter can search for topics such as flooding in Englewood or a school board vote in Oak Cliff and view what verified neighbors are saying before a story is published.

Stories sourced from community conversations

During the pilot, multiple journalists sourced and published stories directly from Nextdoor community conversations.

• Zachary-Taylor Wright, a trending local reporter for MySA in San Antonio, said he used Nextdoor to target questions to people living in neighborhoods affected by topics he was covering. He cited an example involving the removal of a rainbow crosswalk due to state code enforcement.
• Wright sourced and published more than 10 stories from Nextdoor in his first two months on the platform, including investigations into surveillance cameras and license plate scanners, coverage of a rainbow crosswalk attack, and an in-depth piece on a local business displaced by a $2.4 billion highway project.
• Emily Holshouser of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram said she received enough story tips through the platform that she started a separate Google Doc to track them.

Context for local journalism and platform reach

Nextdoor said local news consumption has grown 10% over the last three years, described as the steepest rate among major social platforms measured aside from TikTok and Instagram, per Pew Research. The company also said six percent of US adults already get news there.

Nextdoor noted that about 27,000 local journalists are employed in the United States, and that until now none of the platforms it described as available were built specifically for local journalists’ beats.

Company statements and enrollment

Nick Lisher, EVP, Product at Nextdoor, said the company has been building a “home for local newsrooms” and that the pilot showed neighbors respond when a reporter appears as a real person in conversations. He said the program is being opened early so journalists can help shape how it works at scale.

Journalists at established local news publications in the United States can sign up for early access at nextdoor.com/journalists. Enrollment is rolling, with spots confirmed as applications are reviewed.

About Nextdoor

Nextdoor is described as a neighborhood network for over 105 million verified neighbors, offering trusted local news, real-time safety alerts, neighbor recommendations, for sale and free listings, and local events. The company said it connects neighbors to people, places, and information in local communities, and that businesses, news publishers, and public agencies use the platform to share information and engage with neighbors at scale.