MJC launches nonprofit and member-supported news community

By Meg Martin | Minnesota Journalism Center

In nearly every conversation we've had with local journalists since relaunching last fall, our Minnesota Journalism Center team has heard that what journalists need most in this moment is community and connection. 

Nowhere did we hear that message more clearly than in an informal gathering of nonprofit news leaders last summer, convened by the Minneapolis-based McKnight Foundation. he urgency was palpable: The local news landscape is rapidly changing, and there's power in mutual support — and in navigating it together.

So with the support of the McKnight Foundation, we invited as many nonprofit and member-supported community news organizations as we could find across the state of Minnesota to join us in building a community of support. 

Dozens of journalists have responded, and we're adding more by the day. We plan to meet monthly — in person every other month, at sites across the state, and virtually on the opposite months — and will focus each of our meetups on training, issues, conversations and topics driven by the community.

We'll soon be launching a Slack channel, where journalists at nonprofit and community-supported news organizations can connect, chat, troubleshoot and brainstorm together. 

In February, we gathered the group for the first time, in a small evening session on the University of Minnesota's Twin Cities campus, where the MJC is based. 

We spent most of our time together connecting, chatting — and brainstorming needs this community might help address.

Top among them:

• Collaborations and story sharing
• Training
• Approaches to revenue and funding
• Support for our leaders and prospective leaders
• Resources for better understanding our audiences and developing products

As someone put it during the conversation: We’re looking for ways we can evolve together. Well said. We think so, too.

This effort is ongoing — and so is the process for naming this group. At last month's kickoff, a top contender emerged: The JAM — a Journalism Alliance of Minnesota. We're running with it.

Join the MJC's nonprofit news community: Sign up to stay in the loop about the group's meetups, events and other opportunities to connect, learn and grow together

As the Journalism Center team begins to synthesize the ideas that came out of our February meeting and build next steps, the community is planning its next (virtual) meetup for the end of March, a community-led conversation about building trust and connection with younger audiences through social media. In April, the cohort is invited to gather at the Northern Exposure visual journalism conference for a nonprofit and small newsroom track designed specifically for them.

Do you work at a nonprofit or community-supported newsroom? Join us!

If you're a journalist at a nonprofit or community-supported newsroom in Minnesota — whether you're a newsroom leader, the newest hire or work on the business side — we'd love for you to join us!  Sign up here, and we'll get you connected.

And if you've already expressed interest in the cohort but weren't able to make it to the February meetup, we want to hear about your hopes for this group: topic ideas and timing preferences for our meetups, plus thoughts on how this community might be most helpful to you and your newsroom.

Please share this with your friends, colleagues and others who you think might be interested in joining this effort.

Questions about this new nonprofit and community-supported news cohort? Contact the MJC's Regina McCombs or Meg Martin.

JAM with us: More about the MJC's nonprofit and community-supported journalism cohort (the JAM)