Chicago INN Amplify members collaborate on online voter tool for city elections

By Sharon McGowan
INN Amplify Collaborations Leader

Chicago elected its first African-American woman and openly gay mayor on April 2, and the date also marked the culmination of Chi.vote, a hugely successful collaborative journalism project geared toward educating voters about the municipal elections. Fernando Diaz, editor of The Chicago Reporter, called the project a “fantastic” success. “We did something together that we’d never done before, and hadn’t been done in Chicago,” he said, adding that users had an overwhelmingly positive experience. The Better Government Association (BGA), The Chicago Reporter and Block Club Chicago, all INN Amplify members, were also founding members of Chi.vote, along with The Daily Line and The TRiiBE. Contributors included Chalkbeat Chicago and City Bureau, also INN Amplify members.

A scene of Arcadia, Wisconsin

INN launches editorial collaboration on decline of rural hospitals

Lyle Muller, the first editor of Iowa Watch, grew up in rural northeastern Iowa and had a personal and professional interest in reporting on the struggles of rural hospitals. Jennifer Hemmingsen, a former reporter and now an editorial writer at the Seattle Times, recalls the uproar in rural Minnesota when Mayo Clinic announced its plan to remove inpatient medical and surgical services and obstetrics from the local hospital in Albert Lea. Hemmingsen’s parents grew up in the area, and her first newspaper job was in the town. “It really felt like their town would be abandoned. It was huge.

INN Members hosting Emma Bowen Foundation fellows for the summer

Twenty fellows participating in the Emma L. Bowen Foundation for Minority Interests in Media program for students of color are helping Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) members, along with INN, this summer, as part of a new partnership.

This is the first time the foundation placed fellows who are college students and recent college graduates from its summer fellowship program inside nonprofit news organizations for eight-week internships focused on new media business, technology and editorial.

New INN-led member collaboration on Great Lakes launches today

A new INN-led collaborative reporting project about climate change in the Great Lakes region is launching today. Called “From Rust to Resilience: What climate changes means for Great Lakes cities,” the series includes a dozen pieces that will be published or broadcast from April 20 to May 1. The project is part of the Pulitzer Center’s nationwide Connected Coastlines reporting initiative.