"After walking away from a career as a lawyer in the late 2000s, Shapiro committed himself to helping rebuild local news in the communities where he lived. He launched his first three TAPinto sites in New Jersey in October of 2008, simply hoping to help give back to these neighborhoods where he was raising his family. Fast forward 17 years, and he's built up his organization as a franchise, with 99 TAPinto sites across New Jersey, Florida, New York and Pennsylvania."
"TAPinto provides its franchisees with the backend systems and training necessary to run a successful operation. It's an efficient way to address the loss of local news, and it's a variation of a model that other organizations have turned to recently as well. In Medill's 2025 State of Local News Report, one of the fastest growing categories of new local news organizations was outlets that are part of national networks, like TAPinto."
"There are now 853 local news sites across 52 networks providing original reporting, according to the report. This growth is being spurred by both for-profit and nonprofit news operations, including legacy news outlets that are expanding their statewide footprints. The largest network is Patch, which includes 535 sites doing original reporting. But other networks include Axios Local, with operations in nearly three dozen cities, as well as legacy and early-stage news outlets building state networks like The Salt Lake Tribune, The Texas Tribune and"
Michael Shapiro left a legal career in the late 2000s and launched three TAPinto sites in New Jersey in October 2008 to support his communities. Over 17 years he expanded TAPinto into a franchise with 99 sites across New Jersey, Florida, New York and Pennsylvania. TAPinto supplies franchisees with backend systems and training to operate successful local news outlets. The franchise model offers an efficient response to the decline of local journalism and mirrors a broader trend of networked local outlets. Medill's 2025 report counts 853 local sites in 52 networks, including large networks like Patch and Axios Local.
Read at Poynter
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