Zachary-Taylor Wright Sources Hyperlocal Stories through Nextdoor’s Verified Local Journalist Account

Learn how a MySA reporter turned a Nextdoor verified local journalist account into a community reporting engine — generating 10+ published stories and outperforming local news publishers.

Zachary-Taylor Wright is a trending local reporter for MySA (MySanAntonio.com), a Hearst Newspapers news site covering San Antonio, TX. They were among the first journalists in the country to join Nextdoor's verified local journalist account pilot program, launching their account in December 2025.

Before the pilot began, Zach was already using their personal account to follow neighborhood conversations and find story leads. When Nextdoor launched verified local journalist accounts, it was a natural fit — giving Hearst journalists an official presence in the same spaces where San Antonians were already talking.

In just two months, Zach’s account significantly outperformed the news publisher page average in the San Antonio DMA across all key engagement metrics — and Zach’s posts led to 10+ published stories covering everything from surveillance cameras to a cross-shaped cell tower.

Zach’s verified journalist account performance highlights

2-month data: Nov 30, 2025 – Jan 24, 2026 | Compared to the San Antonio DMA news publisher average

Zachary-Taylor Wright’s Nextdoor verified local journalist profile

Zach's Goals on Nextdoor

Zach came to Nextdoor to get closer to San Antonians and the stories that matter to them by:

• Building credibility and presence as a verified, named journalist in the neighborhoods they cover.
• Surfacing hyperlocal story leads and topics that residents are already buzzing about.
• Using the chat and DM feature to connect directly with neighbors as potential sources and interview subjects.
• Closing the loop with community members by sharing published stories back to the neighbors who helped inspire them.

How Zach Uses Their Verified Journalist Account

Zach uses several features of their verified journalist account to do their best reporting:

• Posts as story calls-to-action: When Zach is working on a story, they post to Nextdoor to gather community perspectives. Zach frames posts as questions or community conversations: asking San Antonians what they think about issues like traffic, development, school policy, and local change. Bringing specific questions to the community leads to more focused, useful comments.
• Chat and direct messages for sourcing and interviews: One of the most powerful — and underrated — features Zach uses is the chat and DM function. After Zach posted an introduction message to the San Antonio community, neighbors began reaching out directly with story tips and leads. Several of their published stories can be traced back to those cold inbound messages from neighbors who found Zach through their verified profile.
• Strategic location targeting: Zach targets their posts to downtown San Antonio to generate the most initial engagement. Because Nextdoor's algorithm expands reach based on engagement, those posts then naturally spread across the city. For stories with citywide relevance, this approach means maximum distribution with a single, targeted post.
• Performance dashboard for KPI tracking: Zach uses the publisher dashboard to track which posts generate the most engagement, helping both Zach and the audience team understand what topics resonate most with San Antonians and refine their approach over time.

Zach’s post asking neighbors for their opinion on most dangerous intersections in San Antonio

Zach’s post asking neighbors how they feel about the TxDOT’s decision to remove all non-standard signs.

Zach’s account performance dashboard

Stories Published with Nextdoor

Zach used their Nextdoor journalist account to source and publish more than 10 stories for MySA in just two months. These include:

• Unexplained surveillance cameras have San Antonio neighbors buzzing — Residents posting about mysterious cameras led to a two-part investigative series.
• License plate scanners increasing in these San Antonio-area towns — The follow-up to the flock camera story, surfacing all neighborhoods hosting controversial devices.
• Rainbow crosswalk story — Directly sourced from a Nextdoor post about community reactions.
• Can a $2.4B I-35 rebuild end San Antonio's traffic headaches? — Sourced from community conversations about traffic impacts.
• Skaters building sisterhood through roller derby in San Antonio — A community-driven discovery from neighbor engagement.
• A signal from God? Cross-topped beacon in San Antonio is a cell tower — Sourced from Nextdoor, though Zach noted that casting too broad a net in the post led to unfocused comments — a key learning.
• Luxury condos planned near Loop 1604 spark traffic worries in San Antonio — Braun Road development concerns raised directly by neighbors on Nextdoor.
• San Antonio school district adopts new rules after deadly incident — NISD off-campus lunch privileges story sourced from a community conversation on Nextdoor.
• From mall darling to retail revival: Huebner Oaks is making a comeback — Part of a two-story series on the Huebner Oaks shopping center.
• San Antonio shopping mall renaissance rages on with bookstore — Second story in the Huebner Oaks series.

Zach’s Results Outperform San Antonio Publishers

Two months into the pilot (November 30, 2025 – January 24, 2026), Zach's verified local journalist account surpassed the publisher page average in the San Antonio DMA on all key engagement metrics per 1,000 impressions:

Source: Nextdoor News performance data. 2-month period: Nov 30, 2025 – Jan 24, 2026.

In Their Own Words

Zachary-Taylor Wright, Trending Local Reporter, MySA

I’ve been really excited to be able to target my questions to people living in neighborhoods impacted by a topic we’re covering. When a rainbow crosswalk was being removed due to state code enforcement, for example, I could use Nextdoor to hear directly from people who live nearby to find out what they thought about the issue.

Tracy Ziemer, VP of Audience Development, Hearst Newspapers

MySA’s goals for its Nexdoor News account included:

• Increase brand awareness of MySA among local residents who are active on Nextdoor

• Drive clicks back to the MySA website from stories distributed within Nextdoor

• Learn more about the topics and issues that the San Antonio community cares about to inform future newsgathering

What's Next

Zach's early success with the verified local journalist account is just the beginning for Hearst Newspapers on Nextdoor. Tracy Ziemer, VP of Audience Development at Hearst, noted that other reporters and editors are already eager to join the program — a signal of how quickly this pilot is proving its value to working reporters.

For local journalists, Nextdoor offers something genuinely different from other platforms: a verified, geographically rooted community of real neighbors who are already talking about the stories that matter most. Zach's experience shows that when journalists show up in those conversations with curiosity, credibility, and a willingness to listen the community responds.

Interested in bringing Nextdoor's verified journalist program to your newsroom?

Reach out to newshelp@nextdoor.com to learn more.