Awards season shows strength of small indie newsrooms—and support networks
Digital upstarts take home prizes, highlighting the importance of infrastructure
Years ago, journalism awards season meant that the usual suspects took home the biggest prizes: The New York Times, Washington Post, Reuters, 60 Minutes, etc. But this year was a turning point for journalism awards, as smaller digital newsrooms started to occupy more of center stage. City Bureau and Invisible Institute won the Pulitzer Prize in Local Reporting. Lookout Santa Cruz won the Pulitzer for Breaking News. Invisible Institute and USG Audio won the Pulitzer for Audio Reporting, along with a Peabody Award and National Magazine Award in the podcasting category. The Marshall Project and The Emancipator won Edward R. Murrow Awards in the “small digital” category.
The list goes on and on. It is so inspiring to see amazing work done by independent digital newsrooms around the country, and they deserve tremendous credit for the tireless work they’ve done to serve their communities. Knight is also proud to have supported so many of these award-winning news organizations over the years. For example, the Invisible Institute won a Knight News Challenge on Data grant back in 2016 for its Citizen Police Data Project in Chicago, an innovative database of police misconduct.
Our investments sometimes take years to pay dividends, for the publishers themselves and, ultimately, for their communities. We’re proud to have been early funders of ProPublica and Texas Tribune, two organizations whose nominations for big-time awards are almost a given at this point. And our more recent grants to ProPublica and FRONTLINE have helped them launch local reporting collaborations to uplift investigative journalism around the country.
Knight is grateful to have provided some fuel to power these tremendous newsrooms, and we know some of the investments we’re making today will eventually have that same impact. And, in the end, that’s the most satisfying part of the job for me: helping smart people execute on their dreams. And it’s nice to see many of those dreams coming true, and communities being better informed thanks to this new wave of digital startups.
Importance of infrastructure
There’s another big difference between large news organizations producing award-winning work and smaller upstarts doing the same. While the larger fish have typically had in-house legal teams helping to cover their tails, the minnows must rely on the networked infrastructure of organizations such as ProJourn at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and Lawyers for Reporters.
For many smaller news organizations, doing investigative work means, in addition to legal support, they will need technology support, business support and more. That’s why organizations such as American Journalism Project, the Institute for Nonprofit News, News Revenue Hub, LION Publishers, Newspack, CatchLight, Local Media Association (and so many more) are so vital to the success of independent news organizations.
For these smaller fish to compete, they must count on a web of networks and connections for support. My view is that, for local publishers to be successful, they should spend 90 percent of their time focused on two things: 1) producing important, impactful journalism that serves their communities; and 2) bringing in enough money to keep doing it. Being lean and focused is the key. Infrastructure organizations can help fill in much of the rest.
So let’s not just cheer for the digital publishers who won so many awards this season, but also all those folks who helped in the background, like the “thank yous” you hear at the Oscars.
Other news around the horn…
Investments
🔥 MLK50 gets a $500,000 grant from Knight. Since its founding in 2017, MLK50: Justice Through Journalism has been true to its name, helping to free thousands of poor patients from medical debt and earning founding editor and publisher Wendi C. Thomas an I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence. Now Knight is investing $500,000 over five years in MLK50 as part of its Press Forward aligned grantmaking, allowing the Memphis-based nonprofit newsroom to focus on sustainability and broaden its reach through audience engagement. That will include creating a network of community members who will become partners in disseminating information and generating story ideas. Plus, the outlet will aim to diversify revenues by increasing the number of major donors while also exploring events and sponsorships. “MLK50 has already benefited immensely from Knight’s deep investment in local news, so we’re excited to be receiving direct support from such a philanthropic powerhouse,” said Thomas. She recently announced she will be stepping down from her leadership role to focus on investigative reporting projects, and MLK50 is hiring a new co-executive director.
💰10 HBCU student newsrooms receive $200,000 in grants. More and more, student newsrooms are providing important local news to communities. But they can’t succeed without crucial technology and resources. A new grant program from Howard University’s Center for Journalism & Democracy is helping to improve that situation for 10 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) with grants totalling nearly $200,000. The grants will help the schools purchase technology, improve audience engagement, pay reporters and, in one case at the University of the District of Columbia, bring a student newspaper back to life after a decade. “This grant program seeks to even the playing field by upgrading student newsrooms and paying stipends for student journalists,” said Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Center’s founder and Knight Chair in Race and Journalism at Howard. “Investments in the talent and ambitions of aspiring journalists will fundamentally transform these newsrooms.”
🗳️ Democracy Day organizers offer $40,000 in grants to newsrooms. To keep democracy strong in the U.S., we not only need to have civic reporting in communities across the country—we need to understand the threats to democracy. Thanks to U.S. Democracy Day, organized by the Center for Cooperative Media each September 15 since 2022, we know much more about relevant issues: election integrity, voting rights (and suppression), misinformation and disinformation and much more. The collaborative effort has included 163 newsrooms across 43 states creating more than 380 stories. But this year is different, as the Center is offering a total of $40,000 in microgrants to newsrooms to help fund their efforts, with support from Hearken, Project SOS and the Democracy Fund. Beyond the stipend, newsrooms will get access to the board of organizers to help with story pitches, making connections and brainstorming solutions to whatever challenges arise. Interested newsrooms must apply by June 14 and publish stories by Democracy Day.
Impact
💥 How do you spell impact? A-J-P + I-N-N. If we believe that nonprofit newsrooms will become the dominant force for watchdog and investigative journalism in the country, then two important support organizations, the American Journalism Project (AJP) and Institute for Nonprofit News (INN), will play a key role in that success. The two organizations’ recent impact reports show just how much progress has been made. AJP’s report found that its $55 million investment into 44 local nonprofit newsrooms since 2019 led to $86 million in revenues for those newsrooms, 36 percent more than last year. AJP’s funding has led to 191 new revenue, operations and product roles for its partner publishers and it has also launched six new nonprofit startups. Meanwhile, INN’s report noted that it now has 450 members with more than $800 million in combined revenues last year, while INN provided $6.75 million in funding to publishers. Plus, its NewsMatch program helped nonprofit newsrooms raise more than $47 million from individuals last year, a record. “INN is not just fighting for our members to report stories. We are fighting for greater awareness that nonprofit newsrooms exist as a solution for healthy communities and a healthy democracy,” wrote INN CEO Karen Rundlet (we still miss you, Karen).
🚂 Savoring a paid newsletter strategy for Chattanooga. The Chattanooga Times Free Press newspaper had a bland problem. That’s right: bland. Its food newsletter was rote and just included recipes and predictable stories. So the paper surveyed readers and hosted a roundtable of chefs and restaurant owners to get feedback, according to a story in Better News. The publication hired a new full-time food writer, Andre James, “who didn’t go to journalism school, but he had years of experience as a line cook, he knows food and he is a gifted writer with a unique voice.” They launched the new “What To Eat Next” newsletter along with videos and James started engaging in the food community, even competing in a local cooking contest. The result? The newsletter has 1,157 subscribers even though it’s behind the newspaper paywall or people can pay $4.95/month just for the newsletter. In fact, more people have subscribed to the paper as a result of the newsletter rather than just paying for the newsletter. What’s next? Andre is in training for a hot dog eating contest. 🌭
Acquisitions
🥩 Nebraska Public Media resurrects Omaha alt-monthlies. Even with their own challenges, public media stations are still vital in helping keep local journalism alive in many communities. And in some places, such as Lancaster, Pa., the newspaper was gifted to WITF public media in Harrisburg, Pa. Most recently, two Omaha alt-monthlies, The Reader and Spanish-language El Perico, were gifted to Nebraska Public Media just nine months after the publications shut down. The acquisitions will help Nebraska Public Media increase its digital presence while also reaching a Spanish-speaking audience. “This endeavor will amplify our commitment to in-depth coverage of people, places and issues that may not be receiving the kind of attention that public media journalism can provide,” said Mark Leonard, general manager and CEO at Nebraska Public Media. “And we will shine a spotlight on Omaha and all it has to offer in live music, art, food and much more.”
Jobs
MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, Co-Executive Director
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The Signals Network, Chief of Staff / Director of Operations
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Documented, Editor-in-Chief
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Rebuild Local News, Chief Operating Officer.
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Local Journalism Initiative (Delaware), Director of Operations
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Fellowships
$12,000 stipend for 10 months
May 2024 to March 2025
Local Investigations Fellowship
New York Times
One year; fellows stay in their newsrooms
Apply by September 2
Training
Little Key and Jennifer Mizgata
Free, email course
Upcoming Events 📅
Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) Days
San Diego
June 11–12
Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA)
Milwaukee
June 12–14
National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ)
Hollywood, CA
July 9–13
Report for America Presents: Growing Statewide Support for Local News in Minnesota
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July 18
Oklahoma City
July 25–27
National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ)
Chicago
July 31–August 4
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August 15–16
LION’s Independent News Sustainability Summit
Chicago
September 5–7
The Association for LGTBQ+ Journalists
Los Angeles
September 5–8
Journalism Women & Symposium (JAWS) CAMP
September 13–15
New Orleans
Online News Association (ONA24)
Atlanta
September 18–21
Local Media Association (LMA) Fest
Chicago
September 24–25
News Product Alliance (NPA) Summit
Online
October 11
JFunders: Journalism Funders Gathering
San Francisco
October 22–23
Quote of the Week
“How many times have you been asked how you are, and the automatic answer is ‘busy’? For several years, I was guilty of this. I used to internally wear stress like a badge of honor, but it was really a sign that I was overextended, overcommitted, and overwhelmed. Today, when asked ‘How are you?,’ my response is ‘I'm affirmed.’ The inevitable blank stare is followed by ‘Affirmed?’
‘Yes,’ I reply. ‘I feel affirmed in everything that's happening and everything I'm doing in life right now; it's where I'm supposed to be.’ This is your gentle reminder during Mental Health Awareness Month to do a check-in with yourself on how you're doing.”
—Irving Washington, senior fellow at Kaiser Family Foundation, posting on LinkedIn
News @ Knight Credits
Written by Jim Brady, with Mark Glaser
Edited by Jim Brady, Jessica Clark and Kara Pickman