INN welcomes four new member organizations to our ranks — Mission & State of Santa Barbara, California, the Montana Center for Investigative Reporting, The Chicago Bureau, and the Washington, D.C.-based, nationally focused Center for Accountability Journalism.
Each organization is accomplished in its own right, and taken together embody the geographic diversity and broad scope of public-interest journalism today.
This week we're pleased to offer the following informative and inspirational Q&As from Mission & State and MTCIR. Stay tuned for conversations with The Chicago Bureau and the Center for Accountability Journalism next week.
Welcome, all!
Joe Donnelly, Mission & State, Santa Barbara
INN: How did you get involved with Mission & State? What was the motivation to start a nonprofit news outlet where you live?
JD: The project had a bit of an institutional history going back to when The Santa Barbara News Press was taken over by an individual whose vision clashed with those of many who had proudly worked there doing great journalism for years.
Some labor strife and bloodletting followed. A handful of former News Press journalists and concerned citizens started working on a proposal for a nonprofit journalism enterprise. After several years and a few different iterations, the proposal won grants from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, contingent upon matching local funds, which were raised. Then, an advisory board and search committee were formed to hire an editor. I got wind of the project through Laurie Ochoa, who is a great editor at the LA Times. Eventually, we found each other.
INN: What's your background in journalism AND in Santa Barbara? What inspires you about journalism and about your home city, and how will this be reflected in Mission & State's coverage?
JD: My background in journalism goes back about 24 years, so it's a bit hard to nutshell, but I've worked at dailies, weeklies, monthlies, quarterlies and online publications. I've been a writer or editor in hard news and cultural coverage. I've started publications and been a beat reporter covering local politics.
It's all over the place, which has been one of the wonderful aspects of a career in journalism -- you are a perpetual student.
I think that dovetails with our coverage of Santa Barbara -- there is no narrowband way to tell the story of a city or area, there are many pieces. It's a complex puzzle, the pieces of which form the picture. Santa Barbara is in many ways a piece of a larger picture, too, a microcosm for much of California -- the disparities in income, education, opportunity, access, etc. — and, more and more, of the country.
INN: Tell us a little bit about your focus on "narrative journalism" ... Are you reacting to existing news websites that produce shorter, less in-depth material? What are you doing online that's distinct from other news sites out there?
JD: We're not trying to compete with daily news sources, of which there are a few robust ones here in Santa Barbara, but rather trying to bring a more nuanced view to our reporting. When you're not responsible for getting the information out on a daily basis, you have the opportunity to analyze it and contextualize it. We're also trying to engage the readers a bit more in nuance and storytelling with our writing and multimedia efforts.
INN: Without spilling the beans on anything: What do you feel the biggest stories in your region are? What are you excited to cover in the upcoming year? Are you filling gaps in coverage, or are you looking to take the place of legacy media that no longer exists or aren't competitive?
JD: I don't think it's any mystery that the biggest area of coverage in Santa Barbara is looking at the stark differences in the way the two Santa Barbaras live. It's a fairly bifurcated place, between those with tremendous resources and access and those who are really struggling.
The issues that bubble up from this bifurcation seem to seep into every aspect of life here. We're trying to take a comprehensive, and even, to use a particularly SoCal word, holistic look at this.
INN: What are the biggest challenges you have faced so far in covering your beat AND in launching your organization? Do you have any competitors?
JD: As a nonprofit in an area with several vibrant for-profit publications, we don't have direct competition in a certain regard, but everyone is competing for attention spans. We're more interesting in seeing how we can collaborate than compete.
We've found some great complementary and collaborative opportunities already. I think we're all facing the same major challenges -- trying to do good work that better informs the citizenry with limited resources. It's a familiar tale in journalism these days.
INN: How has INN supported you so far — and how do you anticipate working with INN over time?
JD: Well, we've just come onboard, but already we feel supported by knowing we're a part of larger network of fellow travelers. We think INN will provide a great exchange of ideas -- we all get to experiment for each other -- as well as offering ways to pool resources. And, of course, we all want to make sure we get as many eyes as possible on our best work, so I'm looking forward to sharing that with our fellow members.
So, hello everybody, let's talk soon!
Jeremy Knop, Montana Center for Investigative Reporting
INN: How did you get involved with MCIR? What was the motivation to start a nonprofit news outlet in Montana?
JK: I founded MCIR and I am from Montana, 4th generation, born and raised. There has never been any kind of statewide press to keep an eye on government or any other public institutions in Montana. And because of that those that should be watched have openly betrayed the public's trust several times, abusing their power for personal gain. A lot of that has been my motivation for well over a decade.
INN: What's your background in journalism AND in Montana? What inspires you about journalism and your home state, and how will this be reflected in MCIR's coverage?
JK: I was trained and educated by many of the best investigative journalists in the United States — remarkable people like Len Downie Jr., Bill Marimow, Steve Doig, Sharon Rosenhause and Jeff Leen, to name a few. So I have a large appetite for accountability journalism that I want to use for the greater good, in a Robin Hood kind of way. The thing that inspires me most about journalism and Montana is the unprecedented opportunity to make a positive and lasting impression on my fellow Montanans, and improve their quality of life.
INN: Without spilling the beans on anything: What do you feel the biggest stories in your region are? What are you excited to cover in the upcoming year?
JK: The possibilities are endless. Since there has been no strong statewide press ever in the history of the state, as I said earlier, one doesn't have to look hard to find things that are broken.
One of the most recent things affecting us is the Citizens United decision. Montana is not used to seeing that kind of money spent in election cycles. So with all the dark money groups spending millions week after week, it really struck a nerve with the vast majority of the population in Montana.
Aside from that, Montana's vast natural resources are very ripe for exploitation and I suspect that Montana is going to be the center stage for major battles in the federal courts in the future over environmental law, taxes, campaign finance scams etc. So we'll definitely be keeping a watchful eye on all of that.
INN: What are the biggest challenges you have faced so far in covering your beat AND in launching your organization?
JK: The entire state is my beat right now ... so just trying to keep up with it all at the moment, since we are still in our infancy, is definitely a challenge. And we have not acquired any local or national grants or other funding yet, so it is hard to do much work without access to capital.
The biggest challenge right now is having to focus as much on journalism as we do fundraising, along with all the other legal and administrative formalities of launching a nonprofit newsroom.
INN: How has INN supported you so far — and how do you anticipate working with INN over time?
JK: INN has been as great a help as any new organization could ask for. They offer so many amazing resources it's difficult, if not impossible, to choose just one thing on the very long list that they have helped us check off as we get the ball rolling.
In the future our hope is that we will be able to help the INN community as much as INN has helped us already — through collaboration, sharing sources, data, other resources, re-publishing etc.
Next week: INN interviews The Chicago Bureau and the Center for Accountability Journalism.