Introducing the Statewide News Collective

May 16, 2022

RevLab at The Texas Tribune, The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, and Spotlight PA today announced the launch of the Statewide News Collective, a new community for news organizations serving statewide audiences. 

The Statewide News Collective was created to support existing statewide publishers and to help support the growing number of new newsrooms covering statewide issues. The Collective seeks to address the unique challenges facing news organizations that serve an entire state. It will provide mentorship, peer support, and the exchange of information on news coverage, content distribution, revenue creation, product development and more. 

Participating publishers will share best practices and opportunities for collaboration, discuss news coverage initiatives, identify strategies for supporting distributed staffs, and share technology, product, and sustainable revenue development plans. 

State governments across the country have become the incubators for policy and legal challenges and are shaping the future of our democracy, regardless of where you fall on any particular issue. The reality is that Washington these days is not getting a whole lot done and state legislatures are driving the agenda,” said Christopher Baxter, executive director and editor in chief of Spotlight PA. “It’s more important than ever to have more journalists and more accountability. The Statewide Sustainability Collective will bring news organizations together to meet the unique challenges of serving a statewide audience.” 

The Collective is launching as a pilot program with 23 organizations, including: 

  • AZ Luminaria
  • Bridge Michigan 
  • CalMatters
  • Carolina Public Press
  • The Colorado Sun
  • CT Mirror
  • Enlace Latino NC
  • Flatwater Free Press 
  • Honolulu Civil Beat 
  • Mississippi Free Press
  • Mississippi Today 
  • Montana Free Press
  • Mountain State Spotlight
  • Nevada Independent 
  • New York Focus
  • Sahan Journal
  • Spotlight PA
  • The Texas Tribune
  • The Maine Monitor
  • The Salt Lake Tribune
  • VTDigger
  • Wisconsin Watch
  • WyoFile

“The Collective extends an informal network that exists,” said Emily Dresslar, director, RevLab. “By adding this organizational structure, we can tackle issues more efficiently, grow the strength of the community and welcome new entrants. The RevLab and Lenfest teams are both support organizations for the broader local news industry, attached to two of the participating statewide newsrooms, The Texas Tribune and Spotlight PA. We’re natural partners to facilitate and support this new effort.”

The Collective is open to newsrooms with a statewide strategy that currently provide news and information to their audiences and partner news organizations including: those that have core coverage around their state capitol and legislature; serve unique populations; or cover specific topics for a statewide audience. Both nonprofit and for-profit organizations are invited to participate. 

“There’s no single way to run a statewide news organization, and by supporting a diverse membership, the Collective hopes to expose publishers to a broad array of strategies for news coverage, revenue generation, product development, and more,“ said Joseph Lichterman, Lenfest Institute editorial & communication director. “We look forward to deepening relationships among existing publishers and supporting the growth of the field.”

Publishers interested in joining the Statewide News Collective are invited to fill out this interest form or to email [email protected].

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