Today's News for Tomorrow

Get the tools to archive the first draft of history. Today’s News for Tomorrow, a collaboration between the Internet Archive, Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), and the Poynter Institute with support from Press Forward, offers newsrooms free training on digital preservation and sustained support to ensure the long-term preservation and access of their digital assets.

Apply for Free

Live and asynchronous training
Access to the Internet Archive’s digital preservation and web archiving services
Local news resources through a local news access portal
An invitation to participate in knowledge sharing and networking opportunities around local news preservation

Schedule Requirements

Schedule

Applicants will be sorted into cohorts based on particular characteristics. Cohorts will be held in 2026 and 2027.

The six cohorts will gather on the following dates:

Cohort 1: March 10, March 24, April 7, 2026 (ended)
Cohort 2: May 5, May 19, June 2, 2026
Cohort 3: September 1, September 15, September 29, 2026
Cohort 4: January 12, January 26, February 9, 2027
Cohort 5: April 6, April 20, May 4, 2027
Cohort 6: September 7, September 21, October 5, 2027

Requirements

Who should apply?

Media organizations with digital assets and content requiring preservation. If accepted, participating organizations will be expected to have at least one representative engage in both asynchronous and live training activities. Participants will have free access to tools and services that support the preservation of digital news.

Application process

Fill out this application. While it may be completed by the individual intending to participate in the training, approval from an editor, director, or equivalent is required.

Cost

There is no cost associated with participation.

What is It? What You'll Learn Why It's Important

What is It?

Join the Internet Archive, IRE and the Poynter Institute for the National Summit on Local News Preservation on June 17, 2026 from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center.

This event will bring together producers, preservers, and users of local news to develop collaborative, scalable solutions to address the urgent preservation challenges presented by the rapidly changing local news landscape.

This is a FREE event. A limited amount of funds is available to support attendee travel expenses. Lunch and refreshments will be provided. This event is made possible with support from Press Forward and the Society of American Archivists Foundation.

What You'll Learn

Through panels, presentations, and facilitated discussions, Summit attendees will:

Learn about the strategies and partnerships behind successful local news preservation initiatives
Support the development of a set of local news preservation recommendations
Network with leaders from news and cultural heritage organizations
Become familiar with tools and programs that can support the preservation and access of online and other local digital news assets

Why It's Important

The closing and loss of newspapers in the US has increased significantly in recent years. In the vacuum left by this decline, a variety of local news sources have appeared online. But the web pages and related born-digital assets generated by this shift have presented complex preservation challenges. Newsrooms, working to adapt to new platforms and formats with reduced resources, have been unable to develop solutions and form partnerships to ensure their digital assets are available for future research. Archives and libraries have also struggled to respond to these challenges. Not only does the distributed and multimedia nature of this content present major obstacles, but the training, support, partnerships, and tools needed to conduct these preservation and access activities have been out of reach. The loss of access to today’s local news will present serious consequences for future journalists, scholars, and the broader public.

Learn More About Today's News for Tomorrow

Content deletion. Link rot. Server disconnections. Site moves. Digital decay.

The threads that chronicle the stories of your community could vanish without a trace.

A 2019 study from the Reynolds Journalism Institute found that “the majority of news outlets had not given any thought to even basic strategies for preserving their digital content.” Loss of these information sources will have major consequences for future journalists, scholars, and citizens.

Investigative Reporters and Editors will be working with Internet Archive and Poynter Institute on a program to archive and preserve local news, thanks to funding from Press Forward, a national initiative to reimagine local news.

The two-year, $1 million grant will support development of “Today’s News for Tomorrow,” a nationwide program that protects vital local online news content that frequently goes offline when a publication ceases to exist.

It will help provide infrastructure, preservation services and training for 300 newsrooms and journalists across the country, building community and ensuring digital archiving and perpetual access to their publications, digital assets and other materials for immediate internal needs as well as future community needs.

“It’s commonly said that journalism is the rough draft of history, but often it’s the only account,” said IRE Executive Director Diana Fuentes. “It’s imperative that we safeguard local news archives and access to those archives. We know it takes time and money. IRE is proud to partner with Internet Archive and Poynter to develop a system for best achieving that goal, and we are grateful to Press Forward for its vision in funding this program.”

The funding, announced in July of 2025, is part of Press Forward’s Open Call on Infrastructure, which is providing $22.7 million to 22 projects that address the urgent challenges local newsrooms face today. The full list of recipients is available here.

The IRE, Internet Archive and Poynter partnership project was chosen from among more than 550 applications for this phase of Press Forward funding.

“Local news published today will be needed by tomorrow’s journalists, scholars, and everyday residents,” Press Forward said in the announcement.

Internet Archive, a nonprofit organization that operates a worldwide digital library and the Wayback Machine, is taking the lead on “Today’s News for Tomorrow.” Poynter and IRE will work with Internet Archive to develop the curriculum and training for the program.

Today's News for Tomorrow

Who should apply?

Application process

Cost

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Investigative Reporters & Editors