The Baltimore Banner enters a new year — and a new chapter — with a new editor-in-chief

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Audrey Cooper’s decision to take the helm at The Baltimore Banner was rooted in a conviction she has carried throughout her career: local journalism is essential to the health of democracy. “My whole career has been dedicated to local news,” Cooper said, explaining that she deliberately passed on opportunities in national media because she believes the erosion of local journalism has weakened the country’s ability to function civically. As she put it, “America is having a hard time having civil, civic conversations right now,” and the decline of strong local newsrooms is a major reason why.

For Cooper, the consequences of that decline are visible in everyday life. She argued that when communities lose trusted local reporting, attention shifts away from tangible concerns that directly affect residents. “If we spent more time worrying about whether our kids are being educated, whether our roads are paved, whether our water is safe to drink, and less time on these national culture fights that don’t affect our day-to-day lives,” she said, the public discourse would look very different. That’s why she believes local journalism must help communities relearn how to engage with one another. “Local news has to reteach Americans how to have civic conversations,” Cooper said, adding that “saving the great American experiment means saving local news.”

Baltimore, she believes, represents a rare opportunity to prove that case at scale. “I think what’s happening here and what The Banner is doing is the most interesting experiment in local news,” Cooper said. Her decision to join the organization was driven by a desire to be part of that experiment and to test whether a modern, digitally native newsroom can rebuild civic trust through depth, relevance, and reach.

A newsroom built on talent, ambition, and love of place

When Cooper arrived at The Baltimore Banner, she encountered a newsroom culture that surprised even a self-described “cynical editor.” Reporters told her they believed they were working in “journalism utopia,” a claim she initially greeted with skepticism. “This is my third newsroom to lead,” Cooper said, recalling her reaction. “So, I was like, okay, that seems kind of weird.” But after spending time with the staff, she concluded that the description wasn’t far off.

“The staff is incredibly kind,” Cooper said, emphasizing that kindness and competitiveness were not mutually exclusive. “They are insanely talented. I would put them up against any group of journalists that I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with in terms of talent and ambition.” That ambition, she explained, is deeply tied to the region the newsroom serves. “They love Baltimore and Maryland in a way that I think also informs our coverage,” Cooper said, even when reporting critically. Stories are pursued “with a love of this region,” something she described as “one of the secrets to The Banner’s success.”

That regional commitment has shaped the organization’s growth strategy. While Baltimore remains central, Cooper made clear that the newsroom’s mission extends beyond city limits. “We are based here in Baltimore. It is the soul of what we do,” she said, while also explaining the rationale behind expansion into Montgomery County. Despite its proximity to Washington, D.C., Cooper described the area as “a news desert,” making it a natural extension of The Banner’s mission to serve underserved communities across Maryland..

Scale as a requirement, not a luxury

One of Cooper’s most forceful arguments during the conversation centered on scale. In her view, impact journalism requires reach, and reach requires growth. “To have impact in your journalism, you have to have scale,” she said, acknowledging that the idea may be controversial within nonprofit journalism circles. “I don’t believe local news will be as effective as it could be without scale.”

For Cooper, scale is not an abstract goal but a practical necessity. With a newsroom approaching 100 journalists, she explained that sustainability depends on growth. “We have a newsroom of almost a hundred journalists. We need to grow to support that. That’s just the basic economics,” she said. Geographic expansion, she added, is one of the few viable paths to achieving that support.

She also tied scale directly to accountability. “Politicians and public officials now are too hard to shame because we don’t have enough scale,” Cooper said, arguing that diminished reach allows institutions to ignore journalists, deny access or withhold public records. “That’s because we’ve given up scale,” she said, making clear that she has no intention of accepting that limitation. “I am not ready — and I don’t think I will retire before I ever say we should give up on scale.”

Balancing investigative depth with daily relevance

Cooper rejected the notion that newsrooms must choose between enterprise reporting and day-to-day coverage. “The answer is you have to do both,” she said, pointing to The Banner’s investigative work as proof that deep journalism can coexist with high-output publishing. She cited a recent independent investigation into a megachurch in East Baltimore, noting that a subsequent 172-page report referenced The Banner’s work dozens of times. “None of this would’ve come to light if it wasn’t for it,” she said.

That work, Cooper emphasized, represents the highest purpose of journalism. “That is journalism that saved people’s lives,” she said, referencing the newsroom’s reporting on sexual abuse and the opioid crisis. She noted that The Banner became “one of the youngest news organizations ever awarded a Pulitzer” as a finalist, underscoring the newsroom’s commitment to investigative excellence. “You cannot throw a rock in this newsroom and not hit somebody who wants to do the big investigative story,” Cooper said.

At the same time, she acknowledged that audiences expect comprehensive coverage. “We are looking to be the primary news source for people in Baltimore and Maryland,” she said, which means reflecting “the news of the day too.” While she dismissed the idea of a universal publishing quota, Cooper emphasized relevance over volume. “You have to do stories that your audience sees themselves in and that they care about,” she said.

Paywalls, sustainability and the future of The Banner

The question of access and paywalls remains central to The Banner’s model. Cooper defended the approach while emphasizing flexibility and public access. “We have a metered paywall, so you’ll be able to get something,” she said, noting that free access is also available through Maryland library systems and institutional partnerships. Still, she was unequivocal about the value exchange. “If you’re doing something that people value, then they should pay for it,” she said.

Looking ahead, Cooper outlined priorities that blend impact, innovation and culture. “It starts with doing journalism that has impact,” she said. “It starts with growing our audience. It starts with being innovative and pushing innovative ideas.” She pointed to ongoing experiments with machine learning and rethinking traditional beats, arguing that digital newsrooms shouldn’t replicate “the same approach newspapers have had for a hundred years.”

Ultimately, Cooper hopes The Baltimore Banner can serve as a model for others. If the newsroom succeeds, she said, it can “inspire similar experiments across the country” and demonstrate “how we can really save local news at scale.”