The Public Press is part of an ever-expanding universe of small startup local nonprofit news organizations across North America. Some are well funded, most are not. Some are ad-driven, some have angel funders, and some get most of their funds from a broad base of members, similar to public broadcasting. All stress the value of trained, professional journalists, who can quickly uncover and relay concise and accurate information of critical importance to the local citizenry.
For an update on the explosion of sites popping up all over the country, read:
- Richard Prince’s column at the Maynard Institute: “Journalism’s Next Big Thing,” March 18, 2009.
- Josh Stearns’ blog post on his Groundswell blog “A Growing Inventory of Journalism Collaborations,” April 26, 2010.
- Michele McLellan’s “New Traditional News Sites,” an ongoing compilation (and the most comprehensive to date).
- Jill Drew’s analysis in Columbia Journalism Review, “The New Investigators: Nonprofits are breaking new ground. Can they sustain themselves?” May-June 2010
If you find other examples of similar projects sprouting up across the country or around the world, please contact us.
Minneapolis/St. Paul — MinnPost, Twin Cities Daily Planet
New Haven, Conn. — New Haven Independent
New York — Gotham Gazette
St. Louis — St. Louis Beacon
Seattle — Seattle PostGlobe, Crosscut
San Diego — Voice of San Diego
San Francisco — SF Public Press
Vancouver, British Columbia — The Tyee
Defunct/scaled back:
Chicago — Chi Town Daily News
Denver — InDenverTimes
