Mission Local, the neighborhood news outlet born out of UC Berkeley's journalism school, is expanding its coverage beyond the Mission District into other San Francisco neighborhoods. On its face, this is good news. More local journalism means more accountability, more sunlight on the decisions that shape our daily lives. We're fans of that.

But here's the thing worth pausing on: the fact that a scrappy nonprofit expansion is newsworthy tells you everything about the state of local media in San Francisco. A city with a $14.6 billion budget — larger than the GDP of some small countries — has essentially outsourced accountability journalism to nonprofits and volunteer operations. City Hall should be terrified of a robust local press corps. Instead, supervisors can push through sweetheart deals and bloated agency budgets knowing that, in many neighborhoods, literally nobody is watching.

Mission Local has done genuinely solid work over the years covering the Mission District — from housing battles to policing to the general chaos of city governance. If they can bring that same energy to neighborhoods like the Tenderloin, the Sunset, or Bayview, residents will be better for it.

Still, let's not kid ourselves about the structural problem here. Local journalism is collapsing everywhere, and the outlets that survive increasingly depend on grants, donations, and institutional support — funding streams that come with their own incentives and blind spots. A truly independent press needs a sustainable business model, not a fundraising thermometer.

One local resident put it well: "We need more reporters showing up to Board of Supervisors meetings, not fewer. Half the insane stuff that happens in this city flies completely under the radar."

We wish Mission Local well in the expansion. San Francisco desperately needs more eyes on how its money is spent, how its streets are policed, and how its leaders perform when they think nobody's looking. Competition in accountability is one market we'd love to see thrive.