Not-for-profit news startup launches in Indianapolis, Gary
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The Indiana Local News Initiative announced its launch Wednesday as a not-for-profit media organization planning to create newsrooms in Indianapolis and Gary.
With more than $10 million raised and the participation of civic leaders such as Penske Entertainment Corp. CEO Mark Miles and Women’s Fund of Central Indiana President Tamara Winfrey-Harris, the Indiana Local News Initiative said it intends to report nonpartisan information at no cost to its audience.
“This is public service journalism,” said Karen Ferguson Fuson, former publisher of The Indianapolis Star, who is serving as board chair of the new organization. “It’s ‘What do I need to engage in citizenship and democracy?’ ‘What do I need to live on a day-to-day basis?’”
The Indiana Local News Initiative is accepting applications for editor roles in Indianapolis and Gary at localnewsforindiana.org. A brick-and-mortar location is planned for the yet-to-be-named Indianapolis news operation.
The organization is a partnership between Indianapolis-based journalism, community and business leaders and the Washington, D.C.-based American Journalism Project. Ferguson Fuson said the American Journalism Project researched Indiana’s media landscape throughout 2021.
The research pinpointed underserved audiences in Marion County, Gary and rural communities throughout the state, she said. Possible hurdles for receiving news reports include subscription costs, lack of technology and language barriers.
“The initial discussion started with, ‘How do we protect democracy?’” Ferguson Fuson said. “Our steering committee believes boldly that a free press is critical to a free democracy. There’s a big gap in our state right now for local, boots-on-the-ground community journalism.”
In addition to Miles, Winfrey-Harris and Ferguson Fuson, the steering committee includes Rafael Sanchez, chief impact officer at Old National Bank; Myrta Pulliam, journalist and community leader; and Kevin Corcoran, veteran Indiana journalist and strategy director at Lumina Foundation.
Michael Ouimette, senior vice president of strategy and startups at the American Journalism Project, said 25 staff members are expected to be hired for the Indianapolis newsroom.
A five-member Gary newsroom will be overseen by Capital B, a not-for-profit news organization that serves Black communities. Gary will be Capital B’s second location, following Atlanta.
Other jobs facilitated by the Indiana Local News Initiative include two new positions at The Indianapolis Recorder, one of the longest-running Black publications in the United States.
“The initiative will support about three dozen new local journalism jobs by the end of 2023,” Ouimette said.
Ferguson Fuson said the Indiana Local News Initiative seeks to collaborate with existing media companies rather than compete. The organization’s roster of more than 10 news partners includes The Indianapolis Star, WISH-TV, WFYI Public Media and the Recorder. IBJ has not signed on as a partner.
“While Indy is among a shrinking number of markets that still has multiple news outlets with talented journalists, the sizes of many of these outlets are a fraction of what they were before, and a fraction of the size necessary to cover all of the things central Indiana residents say they want,” Ferguson Fuson said.
The Lumina Foundation, one of the Indiana Local News Initiative’s partners, is providing support to TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website authored by Franklin College journalism students, to make its content available for free to members of the Hoosier State Press Association. The website previously required newsrooms to pay a fee.
Lumina is among a group of local funders that include the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust, Herbert Simon Family Foundation, Myrta Pulliam, Lumina Foundation, John Mutz, Michael Arnolt, the Robert R. and Gayle T. Meyer Family Fund, Gene D’Adamo, Joyce Foundation and the Indianapolis Foundation, an affiliate of the Central Indiana Community Foundation. The American Journalism Project is also helping to fund the initiative.
The Indiana Local News Initiative plans to train and pay residents, known as “Indianapolis Documenters,” to attend public meetings and publish the results. The Documenters Network, overseen by not-for-profit media organization City Bureau, presently operates in cities such as Atlanta, Chicago and Cleveland.
Ferguson Fuson said central Indiana residents will find Indiana Local News Initiative content at its website and via email newsletters, with radio reports and SMS messaging expected to be in the mix.
“We want to meet the community where they are,” she said. “One of the opportunities we have [as a not-for-profit] is to innovate and invest in those last-mile distributions and real engagement at the community level.”
In recent months, the American Journalism Project has partnered in the launch of not-for-profit news organizations Signal Cleveland and Houston Landing.
The Signal Cleveland website features live updates of city budget hearings and tutorials on how residents can apply for assistance to pay utility bills.
The under-construction Houston Landing website lists photo editor, diverse communities reporter and suburban reporter among its staff roles. Peter Bhatia, former editor and vice president of The Detroit Free Press, was hired as CEO of the Houston newsroom.
The Indiana Local News Initiative is the latest media startup in Indianapolis, where not-for-profit The Capital Chronicle debuted last July and State Affairs Indiana debuted in December. Last August, digital media company Axios announced plans to launch a daily email newsletter in Indianapolis.