As I sorted through the onslaught of texts I received from friends about the recent unjust arrests of Black journalists, later followed by the flurry of messages I fielded last week about the news that a storied legacy publication would be gutting its staff, I saw clearly how these two incidents were connected.
The historic model for news organizations has so often left out people of color, so it’s no surprise that some Black and brown journalists, who know that the stakes are higher for their communities, have moved toward independent models. At the same time, as for profit business models struggled, huge corporations or billionaire owners have taken over many of the country’s most historic publications, often drastically reducing staffing and original reporting. The result is brave journalists out on the frontlines of reporting left without the protections of well-resourced institutions, and well-resourced institutions that lack the will to support the journalists who are covering the most important stories of our generation.
Doing this work at this moment demands bravery and deep commitment from everyone in the nonprofit news sector, not just the journalists.
Gillian White, Chief Revenue Officer, Capital B
What we as journalists are witnessing and reporting on is shocking and depleting: American citizens gunned down by ICE agents, manipulation of information by official government sources, and a flat out mandate for people to not believe what they are seeing with their own eyes. But journalism was made for times like these, and the desire to meet this moment head on is exactly why anyone gets into journalism in the first place. Journalists and news organizations are putting themselves on the line when they follow stories that they know can spark the ire of their owners, big businesses, and even the Administration. Doing this work at this moment demands bravery and deep commitment from everyone in the nonprofit news sector, not just the journalists. And the independent, nonprofit news model has never been more important to the future of journalism than it is now.
The foundational question for nonprofit news is how we can all rise to the occasion? Not just through stories but through our audience work, our community outreach, our efforts to strengthen laws and policies that support press freedom, and through the creation and provision of new resources for this work. We, and so many of our colleagues in nonprofit news stand ready to do that work: to collaborate together to expand our reach, to innovate on old models to get news to those who need it most, and to be deeply entrenched in communities to understand what information they need and how to best deliver it to them. These are the things that we know can move the needle not just for individuals, or neighborhoods, but for our country and democracy.
Even as nonprofit journalism organizations have grown, news, especially local news, continues to lose ground. In their annual State of Local News report in October of last year, Northwestern University found that 50 million Americans have limited or no access to reliable local news sources, and that in the prior year, 130 local newspapers had shut down. More than 210 counties around the country lack a local news source. This year started with news that the Pittsburgh Post Gazette will cease operations in May after a 240 year run. On the national stage, threats to journalists at all kinds of publications create massive concerns about the ability of the press to act independently and for smaller news organizations to find ways to defend themselves and their employees in the face of growing hostility.
The threat to the press and suppression of freedom of speech is one of the top concerns of our time. We’ve seen coverage of ICE activity in Minneapolis from all types of news organizations, including institutions with no direct ties to Minneapolis. That work has helped many outside of the city understand the magnitude of what was happening there. There are also the stories from local, independent, nonprofit news organizations like the great Sahan Journal that provide information for people who live in the Twin Cities and are directly impacted by the terrifying events occurring there. This is why Capital B exists, too.
As a news organization that operates a hybrid local-national model for Black communities, with a focus on places that have been excluded from legacy media’s coverage, we at Capital B are aware of what it takes to do that work. Over the past year we watched public services get defunded, news media get demonized, and commitments to communities of color go abandoned. We’ve watched the continued contraction of for-profit newsrooms — just this week one of the biggest papers in our local Atlanta market announced that they would reduce staff by 15%. We see how our journalists, the work we do, and the people we serve are at higher risk right now.
We must also say the quiet part out loud: without enthusiastic, committed, sustained support from the philanthropic community—individuals and organizations—news will continue to disappear from the places and communities that need it most at a time when our country can scarcely afford to lose any more reliable sources of information. Watching journalists lose their jobs en masse, or be arrested simply for doing their jobs is terrifying. It threatens the industry as it exists now, and in the future. That doesn’t just hurt journalists, that hurts every single person who relies on these publications for the information they provide.
This is a year for bravery from the nonprofit news sector, not just from our journalists who are on the front lines, but also for the institutions and individuals who throw their weight, influence, and money behind the causes in a way that can truly move the needle. For those who are concerned about what they have been seeing, for those who worry about the clear attacks on the First Amendment, the time to do something is right now. Otherwise there may be no one left to tell the story.
News isn’t a luxury — it’s an absolute necessity in times like these. We must treat it as such.
