States Newsroom is a nonprofit news network in the United States. Its newsrooms focus mostly on state politics.[2][3][4][5][6]
States Newsroom grew out of NC Policy Watch, a progressivethink tank founded in 2004 by Chris Fitzsimon, who said it "is sort of the model for the news sites we support".[7][8] He is States Newsroom's current president. In 2017, the project expanded, using the liberal group the Hopewell Fund as an incubator until 2019 when States Newsroom became an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit.[9][10][2]
Organization
States Newsroom provides funding, human resources, and digital support to journalists in the state newsrooms.[11] It typically has 4-6 journalists per newsroom[2] and allows its articles to be republished for free under a creative commons license.[11][2][3]
States Newsroom accepts no corporate donations and has publicly shared the names of all donors contributing $1,000 or more since becoming a 501(c)(3) in 2019.[2][6][12] The progressive Wyss Foundation gave $1 million to States Newsroom in 2020.[13]
States Newsroom's commentary and opinion pieces are clearly-labeled and generally lean left. The organization does not allow opinion pieces from candidates or political officeholders.[2][10][3] Many, but not all, of the organization's larger donors also lean left.[2] States Newsroom did not disclose its donors until 2020, when it started disclosing the names of all donors giving more than $1,000 since becoming a 501(c)(3) in 2019.[9] In August 2020, Inside Philanthropy reported that Google was one of the funders of States Newsroom.[9]
In 2023, the Pew Charitable Trusts transferred its Stateline news service, which provides nonpartisan reporting on trends in state policy, to States Newsroom with $3 million to help with the transition.[10]
As of 2024, it reported having 220 full-time employees, with an annual budget of more than $22 million.[2] It grew from five affiliates upon its 2019 launch to 39 freestanding newsrooms at 11 partner outlets covering all 50 states by early 2024.[2]
In May 2024, editor Brian Lyman of the States Newsroom's outlet in Alabama, the Alabama Reflector, was selected as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary.[16][17][18][19] Lyman was recognized "[f]or brave, clear and pointed columns that challenge ever-more-repressive state policies flouting democratic norms and targeting vulnerable populations, written with the command and authority of a veteran political observer."[20][16]
Iowa Capital Dispatch was the first to report a lawsuit against a local Tyson pork-processing plant for work conditions during COVID-19.[21]
Reception
Given its history of "dark money" funding and left-leaning editorial boards, some have questioned the partisanship of States Newsroom's journalism.[8][22] In January 2020, Steven Brill of NewsGuard asked States Newsroom to reveal their donors—which the organization did later that year.[23][3][9] But in 2021 after accepting a $1 million donation from the progressive Wyss Foundation, NewsGuard said their journalism was "bought by people with a political agenda".[13] A June 2024 NewsGuard study continued to categorize State Newsroom as a partisan outlet designed to look apolitical.[24] In June 2024, Axios called States Newsroom "one of the more strategic" of the "politically motivated websites masquerading as independent local news outlets."[6]
Other media watchers have disputed accusations of partisanship and noted the caliber of the journalists and relative autonomy from the national organization. In 2020, the Nieman Foundation for Journalism listed but then retracted adding the newsrooms as "hyperpartisan" in a map.[25][26] In 2023, Nieman noted the experience of the journalists[10] and in 2024 called NewsGuard's depiction of States Newsroom "misguided."[19] In April 2024, Cameron Joseph wrote in the Columbia Journalism Review that the outlets "are nothing like the 'pink slime' organizations that pass off partisan propaganda as local news. Many of the journalists running the local newsrooms... had previously been at major state newspapers" and that reporters and editors were largely autonomous from the national operation.[2]
At a November 2020 press conference, Missouri Governor Mike Parson refused to take a question from a Missouri Independent reporter, saying "I am not going to respond to a c4 (nonprofit) out of Virginia that is absolutely a propaganda news agency." According to PolitiFact, the Missouri Independent is a legitimate news organization, a 501(c)(3), and "not a website peddling hoaxes."[5]
Institute for Nonprofit News, a consortium of U.S. nonprofit journalism organizations, including many of the nonprofits that partner with States Newsroom
^ abcdIzadi, Elahe (December 6, 2021). "The troubling new void in local journalism — and the nonprofits trying to fill it". Washington Post. ISSN0190-8286. Retrieved August 12, 2024. States Newsroom formed two years ago to attempt to fill a void in what many government watchdogs and civil-society experts believe is one of the biggest manifestations of the local journalism crisis: the dire shortage of reporters covering state government.
^ abSkipworth, William (December 4, 2020). "Soros is not the mastermind behind Missouri Independent". @politifact. Retrieved August 14, 2024. The Missouri Independent is a news outlet that was founded in October in partnership with States Newsroom, a national nonprofit funded by grants, donors and readers. It has created nonprofit news organizations in 19 U.S. states.
^ abcFischer, Sara (June 11, 2024). "Dark money news outlets outpacing local daily newspapers". Axios. Archived from the original on July 5, 2024. Retrieved June 12, 2024. These types of websites are often referred to as 'pink slime,' a term that originated in the ground beef industry. The term has been used for more than a decade to describe politically motivated websites masquerading as independent local news outlets... Some of the more strategic sites are run by groups that are more much explicit about their funding and motives, such as Courier Newsroom and States Newsroom.
^ abVogel, Kenneth P.; Robertson, Katie (April 13, 2021). "Top Bidder for Tribune Newspapers Is an Influential Liberal Donor". The New York Times. Retrieved August 12, 2024. States Newsroom, a group of news sites based in state capitals, received $1 million from the Wyss Foundation last year. NewsGuard, a media watchdog that analyzes the credibility of news outlets, concluded that State Newsroom's journalism had been 'bought by people with a political agenda.'
^Sohm, Joseph (November 8, 2019). "News Websites with Political Ties Spread Across Michigan". Governing. Retrieved November 4, 2024. States Newsroom's ethics policy states its publications are nonpartisan. Fitzsimon said the editorial board is "on the liberal side," drawing a comparison with The New York Times.
^"States Newsroom Network". NewsGuard. January 29, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2024. While we respect NewsGuard's mission, we are concerned that as a for-profit startup they have adopted a flawed methodology that punishes innovative, fact-based organizations such as ours, while endorsing the work of outlets that promote conspiracy theories and white nationalism such as Breitbart, the Daily Caller, TheBlaze and FoxNews.com. We urge NewsGuard to update their methodology and use their platform to stand up for real journalism and hold those who spread hate and misinformation accountable.
