From here you can see there's various references and entry points to hyperlocal journalism in the US, Canada, etc, all working to fill the void of local newspapers departing, or local newspapers increasingly only providing national or state level news.
Instead of ads alone, its a sponsorship model, one from the readers side (optional), and one from the local organizations who are outright sponsoring the local news to be created, maybe in different categories, etc.
As a general introduction to hyperlocal journalism: https://www.google.com/search?q=hyperlocal+journalism
From here you can see there's various references and entry points to hyperlocal journalism in the US, Canada, etc, all working to fill the void of local newspapers departing, or local newspapers increasingly only providing national or state level news.
Instead of ads alone, its a sponsorship model, one from the readers side (optional), and one from the local organizations who are outright sponsoring the local news to be created, maybe in different categories, etc.