Days after Republican Rep. Kristin Noble expressed public support for segregating schools by political party, the superintendent of schools in the town she represents delivered a forceful rebuke of her vision for education.
The Granite State News Collaborative, a network of local news organizations, is conducting a Community News Survey to take the pulse of news consumers in New Hampshire. Melanie Plenda, host “The State We’re In” — who’s also executive director of the collaborative is here to tell us what the survey is, why it’s being done and why you might want to participate
When readers across New Hampshire clicked “donate,” mailed checks, or dropped contributions off at local newsrooms this fall, many weren’t thinking about fundraising totals or matching formulas. They were thinking about school board meetings, town budgets, lake health, housing shortages — and the reporters who keep showing up to cover them.
Food insecurity. According to the 2025 Feeding America Report, one in nine New Hampshire residents face hunger. What does that mean? And how did those who rely on government assistance find help in the midst of the government shutdown? Here to discuss this and more is Elsy Cipriani, executive director of the New Hampshire Food Bank.
“When my fears start to build, I remind myself that all I can do is continue to fight,” Gray said. “My greatest hope is to enjoy all the little moments now and hope I can stick around long enough to witness the amazing humans my kids are already turning up to be.”
This isn’t about abstract support for “the media.” It’s about the beat reporters who sit through long meetings so you don’t have to; the investigative teams that follow the money; the editors who double-check claims before they become headlines; and the photographers and producers who bring complex issues to life. Strong local coverage saves you time, surfaces solutions, and makes public institutions more accountable.
A 2018 survey found that, while three-quarters of Americans could usually tell news from opinion in their go-to news source, fewer than half could do so with articles they came across on Facebook or Twitter.
The front page of an early October 2025 edition of The Keene Sentinel features stories about city elections, the ongoing drought in New Hampshire and two Medicare Advantage providers leaving the state. It’s all local news.
The town of Warner made headlines this summer that no town wants. The town administrator sought a restraining order against a selectman for alleged assault. Shortly afterward, the assault charges were dropped and she was put on leave. A firm hired to audit the town’s finances abruptly quit, citing concerns about the reliability of the town’s records, among other things.
All of it — and more — played out in public during selectboard meetings, where residents were allowed to ask questions and raise concerns. If not for the state’s right-to-know law, it could have played out behind closed doors instead and not led to public scrutiny of the town’s financial practices or conversations about adding cameras to town hall to address safety concerns.
Studies have shown a link between the decline in the kind of local news coverage the Bow Times offers and increased government spending, growing community polarization, a drop in civic engagement, and lower voter turnout.
The University System of New Hampshire is confronting a range of external pressures that are pushing tuition costs higher as well, marking the end of a six-year-long tuition freeze for resident undergraduates. These increases accompany rising mandatory fees, housing and food costs for students across the University of New Hampshire, Keene State College and Plymouth State University campuses.
Across New Hampshire, local journalists are doing vital work: covering town budgets, investigating the housing crisis, following school board decisions, and highlighting the people and programs that are quietly strengthening our communities. These are the stories that don’t always make national headlines—but they’re the ones that shape our lives the most.
On average, usually two or three community members seeking shelter are placed in motels per night because there isn’t enough space in the shelter, Williams said. The Haven pays for Vermonters to stay in motels, while Lebanon pays for New Hampshire residents. In 2024, Lebanon spent about $150,000 on hotel rooms for unhoused residents.
On February 4, 2025, at approximately 11:30 a.m., Manchester Police responded to the Granite State Credit Union at 1415 Elm St., for a bank robbery.
Conversations with the candidates will likely touch on the economy, health care, education, climate change, immigration and foreign policy. New Hampshire voters are also encouraged to submit their questions for the candidates in advance.
After years as a full-time journalist, Carol Robidoux in 2014 found herself laid off – for the second time, since the Great Recession of 2008 – and wondering what the future of news was going to look like. That’s when she decided to create her own news publication, and in 2014 she launched Manchester Ink Link, what she called a “community hub and news info site for the city of Manchester.”
On this episode of Granite Beat, hosts Julie Hart and Adam Drapcho talk with Melanie Plenda, executive director of the Granite State News Collaborative, and Carol Robidoux, founder and editor of Manchester Ink Link and Nashua Ink Link, New Hampshire’s newest outlet, created with the help of the collaborative.
From small items, such as packaging, to major components and computer chips, retailers have to move delivery dates from weeks to months and tell customers that some things just won’t be available.
The change comes next month, as Sununu opts out of federal programs that expanded unemployment benefits during the pandemic.
The Granite State News Collaborative has launched a new multi-year project exploring race and equity in New Hampshire. To dig deeper into the project and thinking behind it, we talk to several partner organizations participating in the project as well as the GSNC’s new Engagement Reporter