Illinois Latino News (ILLN), an affiliate of the Latino News Network (LNN), has been selected by Northwestern University’s Medill Local News Initiative to participate in the 2024 Medill Local News Accelerator. The program provides participating outlets with coaching, research insights, and product‑development support aimed at deepening engagement and building resilient business models.
“The mission of the Medill Local News Accelerator is to support all types of media outlets across Chicago and in the Chicagoland area by offering consultation and support in five key areas: consumer market research, product and process, business strategy, content strategy, and executive leadership development,” said Yazmin Dominguez, Assistant Director, Local News Accelerator. “By offering this support, the Medill Local News Accelerator aims to strengthen outlets’ business models and operations, thereby increasing the sustainability of local news in the Chicagoland market.”
ILLN’s selection follows Publisher Hugo Balta’s completion of the Medill Media Innovation and Leadership Academy (MILA) last March. MILA is an executive education program that equips local news leaders with training in business strategy, product development, and organizational management to help them build stronger, more adaptive newsrooms.
A direct outcome of Balta’s participation in MILA was the creation of Neighborhood Navigators, ILLN’s social‑media‑video-first, community‑powered news initiative. The series trains trusted Latino residents to produce verified, bilingual, solutions‑focused videos about issues affecting their own neighborhoods. Rather than relying on distant legacy media institutions, the model delivers accurate, culturally grounded information through community messengers people already trust.
Balta said ILLN’s selection for the Accelerator underscores the importance of community‑powered journalism in strengthening civic life. “This opportunity reinforces our newsrooms” belief that when Latino residents are empowered to tell their own stories, journalism becomes a tool for connection, dignity, and civic participation,” he said.
As part of its Accelerator project, ILLN will be gathering feedback from Latino communities across Illinois to help shape the next phase of Neighborhood Navigators. The newsroom emphasizes that the public is more than an audience — they are collaborators whose lived experience and insight guide editorial priorities. Community input will influence story selection, video formats, and the training needs of future Navigators.
ILLN will also be seeking partner organizations across the state to help identify trusted local candidates who can serve as Neighborhood Navigators. These partners — from community groups to service organizations to cultural institutions — will play a key role in ensuring the Navigators reflect the diversity, credibility, and lived experience of the communities they represent.
“The Local News Accelerator is excited to work with IL Latino News in our upcoming cohort. By working with ILLN, we can better provide Latino residents of Chicago and the state with accessible, relevant information that is important to their daily lives. The Latino population needs more coverage that is representative of Latinos, by Latinos. We look forward to working with ILLN to strengthen this area of local journalism. And, bring the already strong reporting of Latinos to a wider audience,” Dominguez said.
By combining Medill’s research‑driven support with ILLN’s community‑rooted reporting model, the partnership aims to strengthen local information ecosystems and ensure Latino residents have access to trustworthy, culturally relevant news in the places they already gather — online and in daily life.
Cover Photo: LNN Publisher, Hugo Balta, presents Neighborhood Navigators as part of Medill Media Innovation and Leadership Academy (MILA). Credit Hannah Carroll, @hannahinchicagophoto on Instagram.