6AM City, the world’s fastest-growing newsletter-first local media company has acquired Good Daily, a thriving network of AI-empowered newsletters serving hundreds of small-population cities across the U.S. As part of this acquisition, Matthew Henderson, founder of Good Daily, joins 6AM City as VP of Engineering. Matthew brings deep technical expertise in email deliverability, content curation, distribution, artificial intelligence, and process automation — and is uniquely positioned to help us scale our technology infrastructure and positively impact profitability.
This strategic move positions 6AM City at the forefront of technology-enabled local media, extending its footprint to over 400 cities nationwide and adding 500,000+ new subscribers across all 50 states.
“We’ve always built around product-market fit, leveraged technology, and a focus on the development of our team,” said Ryan Heafy, COO and Co-Founder of 6AM City. “This acquisition isn’t just an expansion — it’s a step-change in how we scale local media sustainably, and Matthew’s innovative success affirms that he is the kind of leader who will help us build a future-proof business.”
Good Daily has been a standout success in audience development, adding over 500,000 subscribers in under a year, and its markets are on pace to surpass 1 million subscribers by the end of 2025. This success in audience development will be expanded across the 6AM City portfolio and will fuel our ability to expedite growth in all markets.
Expanding Reach, Elevating Mission
Good Daily’s markets will be integrated as “Seed Markets” within 6AM City’s newly formalized market lifecycle: Seed → Core. These AI-empowered newsletters will operate under the 6AM City brand and progressively align with our editorial, ethical, and advertising standards. As each Seed market grows in audience and revenue, it will transition into our “Core Market” model, supported by dedicated editorial and sales teams.
Henderson, a self-taught developer who built Good Daily to help his grandparents stay informed in an underserved media market, brings deep expertise in content automation, AI integration, email deliverability, and scalable tech infrastructure. In his new role, he will focus on accelerating audience growth, enhancing newsletter deliverability, implementing AI-empowered product improvements, and automating time-consuming tasks to allow 6AM City’s editorial and revenue teams to focus on high-impact community driven work.
“According to a recent Digiday report, almost 90% of publishers have incorporated AI into routine tasks and core workflows,” said Heafy. “We’re embracing this shift — not to replace humans, but to empower them to do more of what matters.”
“Good Daily’s mission has always been to make local news more accessible. Time and again, we found the subscribers to be highly engaged, sharing a common sentiment: ‘In our area, we don’t have many reliable sources for this kind of information, and Good Daily’s efforts make a big difference.’ Matthew’s work leveraging AI-empowered newsletters has made a meaningful impact in communities across the country, helping readers discover how to invest their time, talent, and treasure locally. The mission and impact couldn’t be better aligned to thrive as part of 6AM City.” said Heafy.
Filling the Demand Gap in Local Media
With Good Daily, 6AM City gains a new toolset to serve underserved communities — often in “news deserts” — while enabling local and national advertisers to reach a growing and distributed audience. The acquisition unlocks additional self-service advertising scale, allowing brands to reach new markets efficiently without the traditional sales overhead.
“There’s never been a more exciting time in local media for those embracing innovation,” said Ryan Johnston, CEO and Co-Founder. “New tools for audience development, content production, and distribution are empowering publishers to better serve both audiences and advertisers like never before — and do it profitably.”
With this move, 6AM City now serves almost 2 million daily readers, supports 400+ cities, and reinforces its leadership in building sustainable, scalable, and community-centered media products.This acquisition is just one part of the recent wave of growth and innovation at 6AM City. In recent months, we’ve launched three new Core Markets — NOVAtoday (Northern Virginia), ORLtoday (Orlando, FL), and 865today (Knoxville, TN), bringing our signature daily local newsletter to even more vibrant communities. Our editorial teams in our Core markets continue to deliver the most engaging, positive, need-to-know stories to inboxes in the cities we serve.
Additionally, we’re doubling down on tools that support both brands and newsletter operators. Our Newsletter Studio gives businesses a turnkey way to connect with their audience through custom-branded newsletters. Our Self-Service Ad Portal (SSAP) and Jobs Board simplify local marketing and hiring. And this month, we’ll launch a free Newsletter Resource Hub and Slack community to support the next generation of newsletter creators. This is 6AM City’s vision in motion: community-powered, technology-enabled, and human-centered.This next phase of growth positions 6AM City not merely as a media company, but as the foundational infrastructure partner powering the future of local content production and distribution.