Metro Nonprofit News Network
PRESSPRESS RELEASES & STORIES
COMMENTARY
Counterpoint: The optimism of emerging nonprofit community newsrooms is not ‘cruel,’ it’s ‘intentful’
Published February 16, 2025 in the Minnesota Star Tribune
A couple of facts about local journalism are universally accepted. One, there has been a dramatic and frightening decline in the publication of local news across the United States. And two, access to local journalism is really important.
Given these facts, we write in response to Reed Anfinson’s commentary regarding efforts to shore up — and in our communities, to bring back — local news (“ ‘Cruel optimism’ holds back meaningful change for community journalism,” Feb. 8).
We are the members of the new Metro Nonprofit News Network (MNNN), a collaboration of local, online, nonprofit, nonpartisan, community-based news organizations. Our publications are Carver County Local News, Eden Prairie Local News, Prior Lake News Compass, Woodbury News Net and the Minnesota Daily. MNNN provides nonprofit startup newsroom teams with information, support and training to build informative, financially independent and sustainable organizations.
When discussing “community news,” it’s easy to generalize and overlook important distinctions, so let us clarify a few things. First, informed citizens need access to journalism at all levels: national, state and local, where “local” includes a range of local government units and communities.
Second, Minnesota is made up of many cities and townships, each needing local journalism.
The oft-described “news desert” usually refers to smaller rural communities with very little news anywhere close to home. On the other hand, in the metro, we have lots of news outlets that focus primarily on Minneapolis and St. Paul. However, they usually only cover suburban communities when there are “high-profile” incidents, like violence or scandal. We have very little access to the day-to-day events in our communities. For reference, about 44% of Minnesotans live outside the seven-county metro area, and 43% live in metro communities other than Minneapolis or St. Paul.
We won’t presume to tell Anfinson or individuals in other communities what kind of newsroom and media platforms they need. But let’s be clear: Residents in our communities have put in a lot of time and work to establish what we believe is best for us. Each community had corporate-owned newspapers shuttered over the past five years — we know what the absence of local news looks like. We have felt the disconnection happening in real time, as people turn to a Facebook/Instagram/TikTok algorithm to inform them of community happenings.
Anfinson’s statement that newsrooms like ours have “no connection to the reality of what is needed to sustain and nurture civic and community news” is highly inaccurate. We live here. We work here. We know the issues and hear the concerns of our neighbors. Our content, as promised to our readers, includes local news about school boards, city councils, development, business, public safety, local sports, human-interest features and events that get little if any coverage from other media sources.
In each of our communities, local people researched, discussed and decided on a nonprofit model to rebuild newsrooms from the ground up. We offer free subscriptions so our journalism is accessible to all, with individual and other local donations replacing traditional subscription revenue, and business sponsorships and advertising to support and connect local businesses to their most likely customers. For now, we are extensively volunteer-run, though we are all bringing on more paid staff, including editors, to ensure professional and sustainable editorial and business operations.
Philanthropy is helpful, especially in the startup phase, but it’s not a significant part of our long-term revenue strategy. We are grateful that the McKnight Foundation recognizes and supports our vision through a grant to launch MNNN. Other funders have also seen the local news crisis and stepped up to provide support through national organizations, including the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN), Local Independent Online News, Press Forward, Rebuild Local News, Report for America, Tiny News Collective and more.
We also know that a nonprofit organization with community-based leadership means ownership and operation will stay local and won’t be sold to the highest bidder. Local boards of directors govern our newsrooms with missions of community stewardship through relevant, trustworthy and compelling journalism.
Community advisers also determined that digital is the best platform to deliver our local news. In the last decade, expenses associated with printed newspapers have escalated dramatically due to increased printing and delivery costs. That, coupled with declining subscriber counts and the loss of advertising revenue from locally owned businesses, are two of the main reasons newspapers have closed. Producing news on a digital platform is more timely and less costly, allowing us to cover breaking news, which enables us to focus our budgets on editorial staff.
And for newsrooms currently launching, it’s often the only practical platform.
Ultimately, journalism is the “product” we provide to our communities. The platform, or medium, is just that: It’s simply how we deliver the news. Being digital allows us to adapt as media evolve. Despite massive disruption in the delivery systems, the fundamentals of journalism haven’t changed. Take note: We are all committed to high standards of journalism.
Anfinson derides the efforts of news startups to “innovate.” In the face of reality — cascading failures of legacy print newspapers — we embrace innovation as a given. It’s not a specific solution but a philosophy that all industries, including journalism, must practice to remain relevant.
We are grateful and proud to be part of a growing journalism community that seeks new ways to ensure reliable local news for many communities. We’re optimistic about our newsrooms and the many others that will follow. And this optimism is seen in nonprofit newsrooms nationally: According to the Institute for Nonprofit News, more than 90% of their members survive past the startup phase.
Our optimism is not “cruel.” It’s “intentful.”
We don’t have all the answers, and there are always new questions to which we will strive to find answers. We are already fulfilling a great need in the communities we serve. We see our optimism validated in the reactions of our readers, donors, area leaders and business owners who genuinely appreciate how badly local news is needed.
Laurie Hartmann, publisher, Prior Lake News Compass
Mike Huang, cofounder, Carver County Local News
Kathy Saltzman, cofounder, Woodbury News Net
Susan Kent, cofounder, Woodbury News Net
Steve Schewe, publisher, Eden Prairie Local News
Charlie Weaver, executive director and co-publisher of the Minnesota Daily.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
McKnight Foundation invests $200,000 in Metro Nonprofit News Network to Support Local Newsrooms
Minneapolis, MN – October 10, 2024—The Metro Nonprofit News Network (MNNN) is excited to announce it has received a $200,000 grant from the McKnight Foundation. Over the next two years, this funding will support the creation of infrastructure and training to accelerate the founding and sustainability of community-owned, nonprofit newsrooms in suburban areas across the Twin Cities metro area.
The grant will enable MNNN to provide shared services, mentorship, and financial guidance to hyperlocal, nonprofit, independent newsrooms in the Twin Cities. MNNN will help address the challenges of misinformation, declining local newspapers, and reduced civic engagement, supporting the growth and sustainability of nonpartisan, community-based journalism.
“Community leaders in towns that have lost their newspapers since the pandemic are looking for new approaches to reporting local news,” said Steve Schewe, Publisher and CEO of Eden Prairie Local News. “MNNN aims to inspire these leaders to found local newsrooms that reflect the unique qualities of their towns, while offering a network of mutual support from other newsrooms. We’re in this together, and we’re grateful for McKnight Foundation’s funding.”
Serving Local Communities
The new network will support the following news outlets in the suburbs of the Twin Cities:
The Woodbury News Net recently launched its newsletter, The Roundabout, led by former state senators Susan Kent and Kathy Saltzman. “I was still in office when our last paper shuttered, and I saw in real time how hard it was for our neighbors to find out what was going on. People in Woodbury know more about the Minneapolis city council than our own,” said Kent. “When we reached out to community members to gauge interest in forming a group to start a local newsroom,” said Saltzman, “their positive response was universal and enthusiastic.”
Over the two-year grant, MNNN aims to identify and support the launch of three additional community newsrooms and build a diverse and collaborative project board.
Fostering Community Engagement and Sustainable Growth
“When a community loses its newspaper, there is no longer a comprehensive source where local residents can find information on decisions being made by elected officials, its schools and city government. Having access to information about local news and events encourages participation and fosters a greater sense of belonging among those who live there. Collectively, that’s our goal,” said Laurie Hartmann, Publisher of Prior Lake News Compass.
Community grassroots involvement, including individual donors and local business support, is essential for the long-term success of these newsrooms. In addition, through partnerships with national journalism organizations such as the Tiny News Collective and the Institute for Nonprofit News, MNNN will help these newsrooms grow their audiences, increase revenue, and boost civic engagement across the metro area.
As part of the partnership, the three news organizations will become members of the Tiny News Collective, which supports early-stage news founders filling critical news and information gaps and knitting together their communities more tightly.
MNNN acknowledges the pivotal role of the McKnight Foundation and other donors who support local journalism. Eden Prairie Local News has shown exceptional leadership in sharing its expertise and helping other Twin Cities communities establish their own community-owned nonprofit newsrooms. The Eden Prairie Community Foundation has played a key role as a catalyst and fiscal sponsor for the network.
About the Metro Nonprofit News Network
The Metro Nonprofit News Network (MNNN) is a collaborative initiative that supports the creation and sustainability of local nonprofit newsrooms across the Twin Cities metro area. Through shared services and strategic partnerships, MNNN helps local news organizations provide independent, high-quality journalism to communities affected by the decline of traditional media.
About McKnight Foundation
The McKnight Foundation, a Minnesota-based family foundation, advances a more just, creative, and abundant future where people and the planet thrive. Established in 1953, the McKnight Foundation is deeply committed to advancing climate solutions in the Midwest; building an equitable and inclusive Minnesota; and supporting the arts and culture in Minnesota, neuroscience, and global food systems. In alignment with Press Forward, the foundation’s leadership addresses the decline of local journalism and sets a powerful example for others to invest in local nonprofit news.
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For more information, please contact:
Charlie Weaver, Project Director
Metro Nonprofit News Network
Phone: (612) 434-4061
METRO NONPROFIT NEWS NETWORK
Minneapolis, MN 55414