From newswire to nationwide: The Center Square’s blueprint for smart distribution

How the brand reached this level of distribution provides a prime example of how partnerships bridge the gap between lean newsroom operations and expanded reach

Today,The Center Square is a vital resource for legacy publishers and broadcasters nationwide. Read the case study below to find out how the brand saw this national growth.

Since its launch in 2019, The Center Square newswire service sought to be a solution to the growing pains in the media industry. Serving accountably reporting to millions of Americans, the brand success is not an overnight story, but rather a tale of the ingenuity of media, bootstrap journalism, and the power of partnership to provide needed industry solutions.Today, the company serves original, straight-news journalism to 53% of all Americansthrough the more than 1,300 newspapers and broadcast outlets with which it partners.

The challenge of scaling reach

As traditional media business models continue to seek solid footing and statehouse reporting declines nationwide, a nonprofit news organization quietly built what many deemed impossible: an innovative solution for wire-distributed news. The Center Square’s success stems from an unconventional approach to news distribution. Rather than building a subscription-based audience, the organization provides content at no cost to publishers, positioning itself as a service to local media rather than a competitor.

Despite reaching millions through the wire, The Center Square still faced a common industry challenge:the need to reach new audiences and increase visibility on national platforms without straining its editorial resourcesor increasing production costs. To maintain its commitment to high-quality statehouse and economic reporting while remaining efficient, the organization required a partner that could scale its content seamlessly.

Partnering for distribution growth

The Center Square found its solution by partnering with Ekkow (formerly Nordot), a content distribution network that helps publishers seamlessly syndicate, distribute, and monetize their content across channels. This partnership facilitated The Center Square’s expansion onto major platforms, including MSN, Yahoo, AOL, and Flipboard. Throughout this expansion, Ekkow provided the necessary technical infrastructure needed for onboarding, automated feed setup and platform integration, and ongoing technical support.

This strategy enabled The Center Square to distribute content through national aggregators, while simultaneously serving local newspapers and broadcast outlets. Today, The Center Square's team provides all media partners – from small-town local papers to regional broadcasters to large-group national media brands – with hard-hitting reporting. In recent years, the team expand coverage to include investigations and video journalism.

Working with Ekkow, The Center Square developed feeds to share video content in real time, matching the needs of several publishers. These technological improvements not only help both brands but are now resources available to any outlet sourcing news from The Center Square.

Measurable results in just months

The partnership proved to be a significant success for both organizations within just four months. The Center Square saw a 19.2% increase in pageviews across these new platforms through the publishing of more than 15,000 original stories – a metric they have achieved two consecutive years. Additionally, syndication opened new revenue streams and enhanced brand awareness, allowing The Center Square to access audiences it had never reached before—all with zero additional production costs.

For Ekkow, the collaboration served as a powerful case study, demonstrating that its syndication network can empower publishers to achieve real growth and visibility without the need to scale up newsroom operations.

A blueprint for the industry

The success of this partnership offers a roadmap for the broader media industry. By leveraging smart syndication, publishers can ensure that reporting reaches the widest possible audience. This partnership also allows news organizations to focus on their core mission of creating impactful content while using technology to solve the problem of distribution in a crowded digital feed.

In 2025 The Center Square content earned more than 21.3 million pageviews on just three national syndication platforms through the Ekkow partnership. And today, The Center Square serves more than 1,300 media outlets with daily content offerings in both print and video from the state, national, and local levels. This reporting is distributed through RSS feeds, content sharing, or a variety of intake forms.

Working with Ekkow, The Center Square team has improved distribution operations, now able to personalize content feeds based on partner usage, interest, and content needs.

“Our role isn’t to flood the ecosystem with more content, it’s to help high-quality, verified journalism travel farther,” says Bertrand de Volontat, VP of Global Publishers at Ekkow. “We focus on giving trusted publishers the infrastructure to scale their reporting responsibly, so credible news reaches audiences wherever they are.”

The partnership with Ekkow continues as both brands works with media partners to navigate distribution onto major, national sites. Ekkow keeps evolving with the media landscape, adapting to shifting reader behavior and the growing role of AI systems that aggregate, analyze, and distribute news content.

A Model for sustainable journalism

The Center Square/Ekkow partnership represents proof thatthere are ways for media brands to work together and meet changing news consumption habits. In an era when most journalism faces contractions and closures, this growth trajectory offers evidence for how daily news reporting can still compete when combined with innovative distribution and operational discipline.

“We’ve demonstrated that meaningful competition is not only possible but essential for American democracy,”Chris Krug, publisher of The Center Square, said.“Our success stems from winning trust through consistent, accurate, and fast-moving reporting that serves readers.”

The Center Square and Ekkow share this story as a model for rebuilding the civic infrastructure that supports informed news consumers with access to trusted, verified news wherever they engage with it.