Reinventing local news with AI: Warren St. John unpacks Patch’s growth story

Mar 28, 2025

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By using AI, hyperlocal news platform Patch expanded from 1,100 to over 30,000 communities in a matter of months. How they did it without creating slop.

This week on The Media Copilot, I sat down with Warren St. John, CEO of Patch, to explore how AI is driving this exponential growth. Patch’s AI-powered newsletters can now spin up hyperlocal updates for virtually any ZIP code in the U.S., offering a new model for personalized, community-driven journalism at scale. But what does this mean for the editorial process, and how does AI fit into a model that has already made Patch a profitable success?

In this episode, we dive into:

• How Patch uses AI to create high-quality, hyperlocal newsletters

• Why ChatGPT can’t replicate what Patch is doing—yet

• The surprising reaction of Patch’s editorial team to this AI-driven shift

• What this level of scale means for the future of local news

• How to scale AI in media without sacrificing quality

If you're curious about how AI can empower, rather than replace, local journalism—or how media companies can harness AI to grow without diluting their editorial integrity—this conversation is a must-listen.

🎧 Tune in now to hear how Warren St. John and Patch are redefining the future of hyperlocal news.

Connect with Warren St. John - https://www.linkedin.com/in/warren-st-john-b17a8788/?trk=pprof-feed

Or check out Patch: https://patch.com/

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This episode of The Media CoPilot was produced by Pete Pachal, Executive Producer Michele Musso, and with video/audio editing by the Musso Media team. Produced by Musso Media. © 2025 Musso Media. All rights reserved.© AnyWho Media 2025