Good afternoon. Welcome to our annual gathering of the INN Network and the Institute for Nonprofit News Community.
Today marks the first time INN is hosting the Nonprofit News Awards alongside INN Days, and that makes for a celebratory start to what will be a productive few days.
We are in Pittsburgh this year…for decades, known as “The Steel City.” But today, it has transformed into a modern tech, education, and medicine-driven economy. A lesson we can all take from this city is: keep evolving.
The same is true of the nonprofit news movement. It evolves and it is transforming independent, original news reporting for future generations.
As we kick off INN Days 2026…
We want to thank the members and partners who helped shape the programming. We had close to 100 submissions. If you were part of submitting for a panel, I’d like you to stand up right now.
You’ll notice some key themes. Revenue, Audience, Policy. It all lines up with INN’s new strategic focus, which is designed to help our member newsrooms become stronger, more resilient, community-intertwined institutions that are built for the long haul.
INN programs will continue to double down on helping members increase their revenues. We celebrate 10 years of NewsMatch this year And, as we’ve been doing for years, INN continues to offer fundraising coaching and wealth screening services year-round to our members. These services are what allowed INN members to raise more in matching gifts from their communities through NewsMatch.
That means more money to power your nonprofit businesses.
For years INN has kept an eye on public policies that provide funding for news, and this year we’ve begun working on policy more formally. We’re focused on just a handful of states to start, and one of those is Pennsylvania.
In a few minutes, we’ll hear from a Pennsylvania state lawmaker who supports public funding for local newsrooms. We’ll also hear from INN newsrooms connecting to communities through innovative public engagement work beyond growing audiences. This kind of engagement builds devotion for the nonprofit news difference.
Right now, INN is building more programs to increase the audience for public interest journalism, civic information, and investigative reporting. Our members have gotten very serious about increasing their direct audience.
The algorithms act as editors-in-chief for a lot of people experiencing the news. Notice I did not say “reading” the news. Social platforms decide what gets seen, what gets shared, and what gets ignored. If we cede that relationship to an algorithm, we lose the direct connection to the communities we serve. And without audience, what is our impact?
That’s why at 2026 audience is a priority. It gets top billing with our opening conversation, but I want to encourage every single one of you to attend one of our breakout sessions on audience growth happening over the next few days. Come ready to ask questions, share what’s working, and leave with concrete strategies to take back your take back to your newsroom.
You’re producing incredible journalism, but it’s no longer enough to only think about more stories and the supply side. A key part of our work is to make sure the audience and communities are here for the work. Getting attention for your reporting. The demand side. Our public interest news audience is out there. Let’s go build it together.
Thank you.
