Statewide News Collective announces inaugural advisory board members

The Statewide News Collective is today announcing the creation of an eight-member advisory board to help guide the next phase of the Collective. Informed by the needs of their own organizations, board members will design and plan programming and identify ways member organizations can work together.

The Statewide News Collective is a community of practice for news organizations serving statewide audiences, and the board members each come from one of the member organizations. They were selected to reflect the variety of organization sizes, media types, and staff roles within the Collective. 

 The inaugural Statewide News Collective Advisory Board members include:

• Chris Baxter, Executive Director and Founding Editor-in-Chief, Spotlight PA (founding partner)
• Kristin Cordingley, Director of Partnerships & Advancement, Montana Free Press
• Kimberly Griffin, Publisher and Chief Revenue Officer, Mississippi Free Press
• Lauren Gustus, Executive Editor/Chief of Content, The Salt Lake Tribune
• Terry Quinn, Chief Development Officer, The Texas Tribune (founding partner)
• Larry Ryckman, Editor, The Colorado Sun
• Kiran Saini, Audience Director, Wisconsin Watch
• Sapna Satagopan, Senior Product Director, CalMatters

“The Statewide News Collective is critical when we need all hands on deck to protect democracy and combat news deserts,” said Mississippi Free Press Publisher and Chief Revenue Officer Kimberly Griffin. “I’m excited to vision cast with like-minded media leaders who live and work in the communities they serve. My fellow advisory board members care deeply about building a healthy and viable journalism ecosystem. I’m honored to work alongside them.” 

The advisory board will meet virtually on a quarterly basis, and each member will serve a one-year term. The board will share ideas on the Collective’s programming, peer-sharing, and networking activities in an effort to best serve its members, which currently include 29 publishers in 25 states. 

The Statewide News Collective was launched in 2022 by The Lenfest Institute and founding partners RevLab at The Texas Tribune and Spotlight PA. The Collective seeks to address the unique challenges facing news organizations that serve an entire state. It provides mentorship, peer support, and the exchange of information on news coverage, content distribution, revenue creation, product development and more. 

“As we approach the first anniversary of the founding of the Statewide News Collective, we are pleased with how the community has grown and knitted itself together. The advisory board will allow us to enter a new phase of more deeply supporting these important statewide news organizations and the hundreds of people working to make a lasting impact on the communities they serve,” said Amy L. Kovac-Ashley, head of national programs at the Lenfest Institute. “We’re grateful for the service of the inaugural board members.”  

Click here to learn more about the Statewide News Collective and find more information about how to join the Collective.