How The Two River Times, a local newspaper in Monmouth County, NJ, is exploring with Whitelabel how AI can make local journalism more accessible and local archives more useful.
Impact at a glance
Opening up the archive
A reader in Red Bank remembers a story the paper ran about the marina, some years ago, and cannot find it. The Two River Times has been covering Monmouth County, New Jersey for decades, and that coverage sits in an archive that is valuable in exactly the proportion that people can search it, which at the moment is not much. The newsroom is lean, readers want quick answers to local questions, and the stories that would answer them are there, somewhere.
We think that is the honest starting point for AI in local journalism: not writing the news but making what has already been written findable. The Two River Times is exploring with Whitelabel how AI can make local journalism more accessible and local archives more useful, and we should say that the word exploring is deliberate. This is an exploration, not a launch, and the page describes it as one.
Exploring it with Whitelabel
The work is qualitative and exploratory, aimed at understanding where AI adds the most for a local newsroom and its readers. The focus is on making the journalism more accessible, helping readers find the stories and information they need, and making the archive searchable so decades of local reporting can be discovered rather than lost.
The tools under consideration are Agents to answer reader questions from the paper's own reporting, Answer Engine to make sure local stories are found by AI search systems, and Marketing and Blogs for managing and distributing content. The aim is not a finished product in the usual sense but a working understanding of how AI strengthens local journalism and the community connection that makes it matter.
What other newsrooms can learn
A local newsroom does not need to be large or well funded to explore this. The work starts with where readers get stuck, finding a specific story, searching the archive, getting a quick answer to a local question, and then uses AI to remove that friction, one stuck place at a time.
The lesson for other newsrooms is about access and discovery. An archive is valuable only if people can find what they need in it, and a local story matters only if it reaches the people it is about; AI can help with both, and the tools are now within reach of an organisation of any size. The Two River Times is showing what that looks like in practice, not a replatforming project or a big-budget initiative, but a focused look at where AI makes local journalism more useful, so that the reader in Red Bank finds the marina story.
Frequently asked questions
What is The Two River Times doing with Whitelabel?
The Two River Times is exploring with Whitelabel how AI can make local journalism more accessible, local archives more useful, and the community connection that makes local news matter stronger.
Where is The Two River Times located?
The Two River Times is a local newspaper in Monmouth County, New Jersey, serving communities across the region.
Is there a finished product or live demo?
The work is exploratory and in progress. The lab card does not include a public demo link.
Can other local newsrooms do similar work?
Yes. The exploration The Two River Times is doing with Whitelabel is replicable for any local newsroom looking to make their journalism and archives more accessible. The tools and approach are designed to work for organizations of any size.