The world of nonprofit journalism is constantly changing to keep up with the state of the media industry, a panel of journalists with extensive time working for nonprofits in Texas told North Texas and Houston SPJ members on March 6.
The Houston and Fort Worth chapters partnered on March 6 to host a virtual panel discussion on the future of nonprofit journalism. The panel featured Indian Country Today national editor Dianna Hunt, Texas Observer senior investigative editor Lise Olsen and Alana Rocha, editor of the Rural News Network launched by the Institute for Nonprofit News, all of whom have extensive working with nonprofits.
The presence of regional and state nonprofit journalism newsrooms has increased to approximately 425 outlets in 48 states over the past 10 years, according to INN. Hunt said that expansion has enabled the larger nonprofit news agencies to develop a web of creative partnerships with local news organizations in producing in-depth content.
The collaborations, which can also include working with universities through internships, benefit the news organizations and their readerships because they can work together on large projects that have national or regional impact while also tailor coverage for the individual organization’s local audiences, Hunt said.
“(The collaborations) can be a partnership to supplement what you’ve already got,” Hunt said. “But you’ve got to have the structure there.”
Hunt also pointed out that nonprofit news agencies can become too dependent on grants rather than seeking additional sustainable lieu of sustainable sources of funding for their operations, a point to which the panelists agreed.
Said Rocha, “There’s an understanding that national philanthropy or even local philanthropy isn’t alone going to sustain newsrooms in perpetuity.”
Olsen described her own experience at the Texas Observer, one of the oldest journalism nonprofits in the industry and one that narrowly avoided a shutdown in 2023 before the staff raised $300,000 through crowdsourcing.
“We have, I think, stabilized,” Olsen said. “But it’s been a tough year to stabilize because of all the cuts and other, in giving, and the competition among the nonprofits.”
Traditional advertising from ads and organizations remains a potential source of income but offers a slippery slope when it comes to protecting the quality and impartiality of the content, panelists said.
At Indian Country Today, Hunt said, the tribes the publication works with would provide a good source of income as along as staff is able to control the message of the stories that are being written.
“We walk the line of wanting to hear them and willing to tell their stories,” she said. “But we’re going to do it our way.”
Rocha said it is essential that nonprofits build a relationship with the community and humanize the stories that they are telling. She said it’s important that the newsrooms reflect the audience that they are writing for, and to try to represent the ones who are most impacted by the stories.
Despite the uncertainties of working at a nonprofit in the constantly shifting world of journalism, Olsen said that it is still their duty to cover as many of the communities across Texas as possible.
“The world is a difficult place right now,” she said. “But I think we have to make the argument that it’s still very important for journalists to be engaged and to be on the lookout for what’s going on.”
Watch the full meeting here: https://drive.google.com/…/1Q8kidAodsc…/view…
Alex Hoben
SPJFW intern