The newest crop of members at the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) are reporting for varied communities and audiences including teenagers living in Atlanta, Latinos in Boston and members of the Southeast Asian diaspora. These nonprofit newsrooms, all 501(c)(3) organizations, range from a community radio station founded 28 years ago in Minnesota to a startup covering Alaska’s capital city of Juneau. One outlet mentors Florida college students as they strengthen their skills as environmental journalists while another produces reports at the intersection of climate, labor and indigenous rights in Canada.
“If there is a common thread to the 22 newsrooms accepted as full or provisional members in the INN Network, it’s that they focus on community – lifting up underrepresented voices, issues and regions,” said Jonathan Kealing, chief network officer at INN. “This confirms what we are seeing across the nonprofit news field, that the one-size-fits-all model of the legacy newspaper is increasingly less common.”
INN receives more than 100 applications for membership every year, about half of which are declined for not meeting its membership standards.
Organizations that apply for INN membership are vetted by INN staff to ensure they meet standards for ethics, transparency, independence and quality of journalism and are then approved for membership by leading journalists on the INN Board of Directors and Standards Task Force.
“These standards are essential for public trust,” said Laura Frank, who serves on the Standards Task Force. Take a closer look at what it means to be an INN member.
In January and February 2026, INN’s Board approved 23 organizations for membership in INN, including 14 full members, eight provisional members and one affiliate organization. Members of INN gain access to resources, training opportunities and tools that develop journalists’ business skills, help them achieve success and sustainability, expand audience reach and build new models for news. The INN Network now includes more than 500 newsrooms across North America.
Full members
News organizations that are full members of INN regularly publish original investigative or public service journalism. The newest full members of the INN Network are:
Mekong Independent, founded in 2025, is a Brooklyn-based startup nonprofit news outlet covering mainland Southeast Asia for an English-language audience. Created amid increasing press repression and the closure of Radio Free Asia and Voice of America, the publication seeks to fill a growing information gap for diaspora communities, researchers, policymakers, and global audiences.
Abridged is a nonprofit, local digital news service launched in 2025 and produced by Sacramento-based public media organization PBS KVIE, which was founded in 1959. Abridged delivers public service journalism that connects residents with their community, celebrates regional achievements, and holds leaders accountable.
The Latino Newsletter is a nonprofit newsletter-first digital newsroom founded in 2024 and based in Boston, Massachusetts. Its mission is to amplify underrepresented Latino voices through culturally relevant journalism, commentary, and multimedia storytelling.
The Breach is a Canadian nonprofit newsroom founded in 2021 and based in Montreal. It covers climate, labor, indigenous rights, corporate greed, foreign policy, immigration and more.
The Daily Memphian is a local news organization launched in 2018 by the nonprofit Memphis Fourth Estate to provide high-quality, balanced, and in-depth journalism focused on the Memphis metropolitan area.
MEDIALEX is a nonprofit community-centered local news radio station founded in 2013 and based in Lexington, Kentucky. Its mission is to serve as a public platform for local voices.
Cook County Community Radio was founded in 1998 and is based in Grand Marais, Minnesota, operating WTIP North Shore Radio, a local community radio station serving the North Shore of Lake Superior.
Florida Student News Watch, founded in 2024, and is a Pensacola, Florida–based nonprofit digital publication dedicated to environmental journalism and student development. Its mission is to develop young writers as environmentally conscious journalists and researchers, with coverage focused on Florida’s environment, climate, and related legislative policy.
Juneau Independent is a nonprofit digital news organization founded in 2025 to serve Juneau, Alaska, and the surrounding community. As a primary news source in Alaska’s capital city, its coverage prioritizes state politics, climate change, and the effects of cruise ship tourism on the local economy and community life.
Kewanee Voice is a nonprofit digital news outlet founded in 2023 to serve the city and surrounding county of Kewanee, Illinois with fair, accurate, and community-centered journalism.
Mendo Local Public Media, founded in 2025, is a Fort Bragg, California–based nonprofit news organization serving Mendocino County. Mendo Local Public Media operates under fiscal sponsorship from the Tiny News Collective and is staffed by volunteers.
NC Local, founded in 2025, is a Wilmington, North Carolina–based nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom serving audiences statewide, focusing on state government, policy decisions, and their local implications.
The Hendersonian is a Henderson, Kentucky–based nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization operated by West Kentucky Public Service Journalism Inc. Founded in 2023, The Hendersonian provides hyperlocal journalism for residents of Henderson County.
VOX ATL, founded in 1993, is a nonprofit, youth-driven news organization that amplifies the voices, perspectives, and lived experiences of teenagers in metro Atlanta. Operating as an “uncensored platform created by and for teens,” VOX produces factual, ethical, and professionally edited journalism.
Provisional membership
Provisional members of INN receive support while working to fully meet INN’s membership standards for editorial excellence, independence and transparency. Provisional members often are fiscally sponsored by INN or other organizations while launching their fundraising efforts. This is the last round of applications in which INN will accept new provisional members.
WSLR is a nonprofit community radio station in Sarasota, Florida, which focuses on music, with commentary/talk radio as a secondary focus. WSLR News, the journalism arm of WSLR, produces two weekly half-hour newscasts and four daily news briefs, plus a quarterly print newspaper.
Black Catholic Messenger, founded in 2020, is a St. Louis–based nonprofit media organization that publishes Black Catholic Messenger, a digital newsroom that covers stories of interest to African-American Catholics.
Decoherence Media is an Austin-based nonprofit news organization that launched in 2025 with a global reporting scope. Its mission is to investigate authoritarian and anti-democratic movements using open-source intelligence and data-driven methodologies.
Iron Range Today, founded in 2022, is a Biwabik, Minnesota–based nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization serving communities across Minnesota’s Iron Range and Greater Minnesota. Its mission is to provide independent, reliable, and community-focused journalism that covers the people, institutions, and issues shaping life in this largely rural region.
Local News Pasadena is a Pasadena, California–based nonprofit news organization founded in 2019 dedicated to strengthening and sustaining local journalism across the Greater Pasadena area.
Minnesota Public Radio, founded in 1967, is a Saint Paul–based nonprofit public media organization. Its primary newsroom, MPR News, serves audiences statewide with independent, fact-driven, nonpartisan journalism delivered across radio, digital platforms, newsletters, social media, podcasts, video, and documentaries.
The South Berwick Reporter, founded in 2024 and based in South Berwick, Maine, is a volunteer-driven local news organization that operates under the fiscal sponsorship of SoBo Central.
Uyghur Monitor Inc., based in Montclair, Virginia, is a pre-launch, nonprofit media organization focused on independent, trilingual (Uyghur, Chinese, English) journalism covering Uyghur communities and Xinjiang (East Turkistan).
Affiliate membership
Affiliate membership is open to organizations that share the INN mission of advancing nonprofit public service journalism but aren’t primarily newsrooms. This is the last round of applications in which INN will accept new affiliate members.
Council for the Advancement of Science Writing, a Seattle-based nonprofit focused on science, health, environment and climate coverage through professional programs that include major journalism awards, fellowships for graduate students and early-career journalists, a resource library and events calendar. CASW co-produces the annual ScienceWriters conference and also administers the Climate News Task Force, a collaborative network of nonprofit newsrooms covering climate change.
