American Community Media (ACoM) has released its 2026 Impact Report, saying its network of 1,282 media partners reached more than 65 million people across 42 communities and more than 40 languages during the July 2025-June 2026 reporting period.
The report offers a broad look at the scale of ethnic, in-language and community media in the United States, while also highlighting several developments with direct relevance to California’s local-news ecosystem.
What the 2026 report says
According to ACoM, its 2025-2026 work included 78 virtual news briefings, 198 stories syndicated through its Ethnic Media Newswire, 27 in-person convenings and 157 fellowships. The organization also says it invested more than $1 million in direct revenue into the sector.
ACoM also reported that page views on its website increased 63% and visitors increased 122% during the period, which it linked to expansion of news briefings, its news exchange, fellowships and advocacy work.
Why this matters in California
California is especially important to the report because ACoM is based in the state and has long worked with ethnic and community newsrooms serving multilingual audiences. The organization says its advocacy work in 2026 included several California policy developments affecting local and community journalism.
Among the California measures highlighted by ACoM are a $15 million state package renewing the Propel Initiative through 2028, a $10 million state extension of the California Civic Media Program that ACoM says was matched by Google for $40 million in total support, and enactment of AB 2222, the Community NEWS Act, which created a refundable payroll tax credit for qualifying newsrooms.
Those programs matter because California’s information ecosystem is not limited to large English-language news organizations. Local, ethnic and in-language outlets often serve communities that may otherwise have limited access to reporting about elections, immigration, public benefits, health, housing and other government decisions.
A network built around multilingual and community journalism
ACoM describes itself as a nationwide coalition of ethnic, in-language and hyperlocal media organizations. Its 2026 report says the network now includes 1,282 media partners serving dozens of communities and more than 40 languages.
The organization also points to its work outside California, including Houston Community Media, where more than 45 ethnic news outlets are working together across ethnic, racial and generational lines.
What comes next
ACoM says it plans to continue expanding its national network, roll out a texting platform for media partners and further develop its Community Media Marketplace, designed to help ethnic and community outlets compete collectively for larger advertising campaigns.
For California, the report is also a reminder that public investment in local journalism is increasingly becoming part of the state’s broader civic-information infrastructure. California58 will continue following programs, legislation and funding that affect local and community news organizations across the state.
Official source
American Community Media – 2026 Impact Report
Read ACoM’s announcement and access the full report →
California58 prepared this article from information published by American Community Media. Figures and program descriptions above are attributed to ACoM’s 2026 Impact Report and accompanying release.
Featured image: Markus Winkler / Unsplash.
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