Mike Fancher, former executive editor of the Seattle Times, is optimistic about the future of news. In this interview with Leonard Witt of the Center for Sustainable Journalism, Fancher says that in a democracy, the public understands the need for investigative journalism.

Fancher says that in order to survive, news media must engage the public. They must think of the public not as a passive audience but as a community. He mentions Minnesota Public Radio’s Public Insight Journalism, The Seattle Times, and the UK’s Guardian as examples of media that partner with their communities to tell stories.

Fancher helped write ‘Informing Communities,’ the report issued by the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy. He is writing a white paper for the Commission and the Aspen Institute on the report’s recommendations.