Introducing Amplify Rural, a new model for strengthening rural civic information infrastructure
Amplify Rural is an emergent coalition-building model that will elevate rural storytellers’ work, strengthen rural civic information ecosystems, and advocate for more equitable resourcing of rural communities regionally and nationally.
What is Civic Information Infrastructure?
Civic information infrastructure refers to the pathways that allow communities to share and receive information. These pathways include news outlets, community organizations and events, social networks, third places, and more.
DoPT believes that storytellers—working across sectors—are critical to building and strengthening these pathways.
Why Amplify Rural?
Civic information infrastructure is disconnected and underresourced in rural America. As a result, the voices of rural communities are underrepresented, perpetuating stereotypes, misconceptions, and divisive narratives. Stories that focus primarily on scarcity and decline contribute to social isolation, disinvestment, and neglect experienced by rural communities across the country.
In 2025, DoPT interviewed ten rural storytellers and hosted focus groups with more than thirty civic and media organizations from across the country to identify gaps in civic information infrastructure in rural communities and what would be needed to address these challenges. In response, we are launchingAmplify Rural, which aims to reduce social isolation, counter harmful narratives of rural decline, provide direct investments to rural people and places, and elevate rural voices as essential contributors to a healthy democracy.
Amplify Rural’s Action Areas
Amplify Rural brings rural storytellers and civic and media organizations together to build stronger partnerships and expand how rural stories, knowledge, and perspectives are shared within local communities and beyond. Our three strategies are to build a coalition, provide direct support for rural storytellers, and strengthen connections between coalition partners and storytellers.
The Amplify Rural Coalition will:
⟶ become a shared resource for rural information equity
⟶ reduce systemic underrepresentation of rural stories
⟶ replace siloed efforts with coordinated infrastructure
Direct Support will help Rural Storytellers:
⟶ strengthen their distribution networks and processes
⟶ connect with each other and with mentors
⟶ produce new work as core civic information providers
Connections Between the Coalition and Storytellers will:
⟶ share rural stories with new audiences and shift rural narratives toward authenticity, complexity, and resilience
⟶ encourage new collaborations to help sustain storytellers’ work
⟶ build strong networks to decrease isolation
In 2026, DoPT is launching the Amplify Rural Coalition and is seeking funding to implement the program.
Amplify Rural Leadership
Amplify Rural will be led by DoPT, with three key strategy partners, a coalition of civic and media partners (operating regionally and nationally), and a network of rural storytellers.
Amplify Rural’s key strategy partners include Center for Rural Strategies, Listening Post Collective, and Resource Rural.
If you’d like more information about Amplify Rural, email Amplify Rural Program Coordinator, Vivian M. Cook, at vivian@publictransformation.org.
