What it takes to support independent publishers with Erin Millar

By Duc Luu, Director of Sustainability Initiatives, Knight Foundation

When we think of local news, we often focus on the stories and the headlines. But local news must account for the same market forces that impact all small businesses, and local newsrooms are often strapped for time, resources and cash. Like any business owner, independent publishers need tools that make their lives easier and access to industry experts that can support their decision-making.

Erin Millar, CEO and co-founder of Indiegraf, has spent years building the tools and systems that newsrooms need. Indiegraf’s operating system now serves more than 180 news organizations across the Americas, helping them diversify revenue, deepen audience trust and collaborate with one another.

Knight has supported Erin’s work since 2022, when we invested $1.56 million in Indiegraf’s News Startup Fund. The results made the case for doubling down on this model. Today, we announced a $5 million program-related investment, structured as a loan with potential forgiveness when Indiegraf’s products are sold to newsrooms that operate for the public benefit. Read more on that here.

This investment means more publishers can access these tools, save time and focus on what matters most: the stories that affect the daily lives of people in their communities.

I asked Erin a few questions about her journey as a co-founder, her experience supporting newsrooms and what keeps her going.

A Common Misconception

If there was one myth you could dispel about the business of local journalism, what would it be?

That local news infrastructure isn’t investible. Over the last decade, philanthropy helped fund an extraordinary wave of experimentation in independent local media. That work proved there are viable, community-centered models for local journalism. But today, the field is moving from innovation to scaling what works. Grant funding helped de-risk development. Now there are opportunities for aligned, patient investors to help scale that impact — backing infrastructure that can generate both public benefit and sustainable financial returns.

The People Who Make It Possible

Who do you lean on? What advice do you have for someone who might be trying to attract investment to their own idea or business?

Every step of my entrepreneurial journey has been supported by advisors, mentors and fellow founders who understand what it means to build sustainable businesses optimized for impact. My advice is to invest early in building a community of experienced, connected and kind people around you — whether through formal advisors and boards or simply through regular relationships with people you admire. The best investors understand that resilient companies are rarely built alone, and they will assess the strength of the support system around the founder.

One Lesson I Learned the Hard Way

What’s one tough moment that taught you something essential?

I learned that burnout is not a sustainable leadership strategy. In mission-driven work, there’s a tendency to overextend because the stakes feel so high and the need feels endless. For a long time, I thought resilience meant simply pushing harder. Now I think about resilience much more intentionally: saying no to good opportunities so we can stay focused on the right ones, protecting time with family, nature, exercise and sleep as non-negotiable, and building teams where other people are trusted to carry real responsibility. Building durable institutions requires durability from founders too.

Must Read

What’s one book, resource or piece of writing you think everyone working to support local journalism should know about?

Theory of Water: Nishnaabe Maps to the Times Ahead by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson. It reminds us that real systems change happens across generations. The challenge of ensuring communities have access to local information — and the ability to govern their own stories — won’t be solved within my career. Yet we continue to fight for what matters because we must. I find that deeply comforting. That perspective helps me think beyond short-term crisis management toward long-term stewardship.