How can Re:Public rebuild civic engagement and restore local news ecosystems through citizen-led media?

by Scott Douglas Jacobsen - Nov 20, 2025

Vince Cvijanovic is the VP of Marketing & Sales of Re:Public, a citizen-driven platform dedicated to amplifying grassroots voices and strengthening civic engagement across America. Based in North Carolina, Vince plays a central role in shaping Re:Public’s mission to empower communities by enabling members to share stories, upload videos, and hold elected representatives accountable. He is helping guide the platform’s national growth, local business support initiatives, and community-driven campaigns. His work focuses on elevating civic participation, strengthening democratic accountability, and advancing the future of independent, citizen-led media in the digital age.

In this interview with Scott Douglas Jacobsen, Cvijanovic outlines the platform’s mission to rebuild civic engagement by amplifying grassroots voices and restoring local news ecosystems. He highlights the decline of community journalism and stresses the importance of accessible, citizen-driven reporting on issues like homelessness, veteran care, and crime. Cvijanovic explains Re:Public’s accountability mechanisms, including a citizen journalism academy and community feedback. He discusses the role of local businesses, strategies for growth, and the challenges of polarized discourse, envisioning Re:Public as a democratic tool to strengthen accountability and empower communities nationwide.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Why transition to civic-focused communications?

Vince Cvijanovic: Our technology makes it much easier to connect with other concerned citizens in your community and share information that each contributor believes is important. Local news reporting and sharing have been significantly hindered by the loss of over 3,200 newspapers since 2005 — a trend that is expected to continue into the foreseeable future. We believe that the more people know about what is happening in their local community — politics, issues such as homelessness, veteran care and support, crime, recreation, etc. — the more they will want to step in to help improve things. The more often that happens, the more likely people will realize they have much more control over their communities than they may have previously believed. We hope this will result in a growing virtuous cycle.

Jacobsen: How does Re:Public differentiate itself?

Cvijanovic: With our focus on local news and community engagement. We also want to make it much easier for people to identify and contact their elected representatives in order to better hold them accountable to the voters.

Jacobsen: What strategies have effectively grown the national community of the organization?

Cvijanovic: It is too early to say, since we just launched in mid-July. We are taking a multi-pronged approach in an effort to identify what works best and then focus our resources on those strategies.

Jacobsen: How do you balance grassroots storytelling with maintaining credibility and accountability?

Cvijanovic: Each individual Contributor is accountable for their own credibility and accountability. Everyone can read and comment on articles for free, and we anticipate that if someone is less than honest, then they will be called out by other members of the community. Additionally, we offer a 5-module course in citizen journalism for free to Contributors called Re:Public Academy. In the Academy, Contributors learn the basics of journalism and, most importantly, the fundamental ethics that support honest reporting. At the end of the course, you must read and agree to be held to a Code of Conduct which forbids dishonest reporting.

Jacobsen: What role do local businesses play in Re:Public’s long-term growth strategy?

Cvijanovic: Local businesses are essential members of every community. In the future, we will introduce a special feed called Support Local, where local businesses can share information about their products, services, and the various ways that they support the community (sponsoring youth sports, etc). In addition, we will be reaching out to family farms and Farmers’ Markets to participate through the Re:Public platform so that members of the community have greater access to locally farmed food and help to Make America Healthy Again.

Jacobsen: What challenges do you see for citizen-led media platforms in today’s polarized environment?

Cvijanovic: Our greatest challenge is getting the word out about what we have to offer at the local level. The polarized environment is really much more prominent at the national level. People get along very well with their neighbors in their local communities. We aim to foster greater engagement at the local level between citizens and each other, as well as between citizens and their elected officials.

Jacobsen: Looking ahead, how do you envision Re:Public influencing the future of democracy?

Cvijanovic: We believe that citizen participation in local affairs is hampered by a lack of access to information about local issues and events. Information about elections and issues related to specific elected officials is often disjointed and hard to find, which makes it very difficult to hold elected officials accountable. We believe that Re:Public can address these concerns better than any currently available platform.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Vince.

A Further Inquiry is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen is the Lifestyle and Finance Writer and Editor for A Further Inquiry. He is the publisher of In-Sight Publishing (ISBN: 978-1-0692343) and Editor-in-Chief of In-Sight: Interviews (ISSN: 2369-6885). He writes for The Good Men Project, International Policy Digest (ISSN: 2332–9416), The Humanist (Print: ISSN 0018-7399; Online: ISSN 2163-3576), Basic Income Earth Network (UK Registered Charity 1177066), A Further Inquiry, and other media. He is a member in good standing of numerous media organizations.

Photo by João Marcelo Martins on Unsplash

Thanks for reading A Further Inquiry! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Link to original article - https://substack.com/home/post/p-174034042

Vince Cvijanovic on Re:Public: How Citizen-Led Media Is Reviving Local News and Strengthening Democracy

Comments