News Startups Guide

Sites Included in the Guide to Online News Startups

So far…

May 24, 2011

This is a complete, alphabetized list of all the sites currently listed in the CJR’s Guide to Online News Startups, formerly known as the News Frontier Database. Although we have completed more than 250 entries, the Guide is still in beta, and will be forever in the sense that we’re continuingly adding sites with no intention of stopping. (When the time comes, we’ll also be updating the information in existing entries.) The current makeup of the Guide is by no means comprehensive. There are still many, many worthy operations to profile, and we hope that the folks in charge of those news sites will help us help the world learn about their operation by submitting, you guessed it, this survey form.

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55423.info – A community college-affiliated hyperlocal for Richfield, Minn.

A2Politico – Accountability journalism in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Alaska Dispatch – News and voices from the Last Frontier

All Over Albany – Conversational news, events, and culture for the New York capital region

The Arizona Guardian – Niche political news for a state everyone’s watching

ARLnow.com – Community, crime, and culture news for a D.C. suburb

Ars Technica – The old guard of tech news, mixing context, the long view, and a sense of humor

Aspen Journalism – Collaborative investigations for a Colorado ski town

The Austin Bulldog – An investigative reporter in the Texas capital

The Awl – NYC-based cultural witticism from two Gawker alumni

Baltimore Brew – Hard news for Charm City

Baristanet – Conversational hyperlocal news for New Jersey’s Essex County

The Batavian – Small town news and innovation in local online advertising

The Bay Citizen – Local civic journalism in the national spotlight

The Beachwood Reporter – A belligerently informed take on Chicago media, sports, and culture

Berkeleyside – News and notes from California’s most quotable town

The Big Lead – From sports blog to corporate flagship

Big World Magazine – A long-form travel blog that pays its contributors

Birthplace Magazine – News and reviews for the NYC hip hop scene

Bleacher Report – A sports news behemoth where fans do the writing, reporting, and search engine optimization

Boise Guardian – Pugnacious reporting on Boise’s institutions

The Bold Italic – Gannett’s bold move in consumer-oriented journalism

Borderzine.com – Bilingual reporting by Latino college journalists

The Brooklyn Ink – Student reporting on Brooklyn and beyond

Broward Bulldog – Nonprofit investigative journalism for Broward County, Fla.

Brown Line Media – An independently owned network of three sites reporting on Chicago’s North Side

Brownstoner – Covering (and riding) Brooklyn’s real estate wave

Buffalo Rising – A grassroots print startup hits its stride online

Burnt Orange Report – A political news blog’s move from undergraduate pursuit to progressive stalwart

Calbuzz – No-holds-barred political analysis

CalCoast News – Investigations and other news for California’s Central Coast

California HealthCare Foundation Center for Health Reporting – A health newswire for the California press

California Watch – A watchdog for the Golden State

CapeCodTODAY.com – A hyperlocal (and entrepreneurial) news pioneer

Capital New YorkObserver vets hope to do well by being good

CapitolHillSeattle.com – Hyperlocal news for the city’s core of cool

CaryCitizen – Proud proponents of upbeat hyperlocal news

Center For Investigative Reporting – Old-school investigative nonprofit takes to the web

Center for Public Integrity – Twenty years’ worth of investigative journalism for the public welfare

CHARLIE Magazine – Perfecting the local online glossy in Charleston, South Carolina

Charlottesville Tomorrow – Nonprofit news on growth, development, and local politics

The Chicago News Cooperative – Newspaper-style journalism for the Chicagoland area

The Chicago Phoenix – Chicago LGBT media goes digital (and grows up)

ChicagoTalks.org – Student-reported, university-based community news

ClearHealthCosts.com – Guiding consumers through the health care marketplace

CNET – The tech news and reviews pioneer

Colorado Public News – Health care coverage for Centennial State newspapers and television stations

Columbus Underground – Entertainment and events coverage with a civic bent

Common Language Project – In-depth human rights reporting and multimedia storytelling

Connecticut Health Investigative Team – Far-reaching niche investigations for the Nutmeg State

The Connecticut Mirror – Former Courant staffers step up to fill the state’s hard news gap

Connecticut Watchdog – Hard-hitting consumer protection reporting

Corona del Mar Today – A one-woman news operation for a wealthy Newport Beach, Calif. neighborhood

CountyNewsLIVE.com – A fast-growing news network for rural Missouri

Cronkite News – Arizona State University’s student-reported website and news wire

Crosscut.com – Robust nonprofit local news coverage for Seattle

CTNewsJunkie – Giving the good stuff to Connecticut’s political insiders

CU-CitizenAccess – University-based reporting on poverty in central Illinois

The Dagger – Sharp local reporting for Harford County, Md.

The Daily Caller – Tucker Carlson and co.’s political reporting startup

The Daily Yonder – Local rural news on a national level. Yes, you heard right.

Dallas South News – Making the move from blog to nonprofit news site

DavidsonNews.net – Ambitious local news site for Davidson, N.C.

Deadspin – Gawker Media’s sports news success story

Delaware First Media News – Nonprofit news in text, audio, and video

DNAinfo – Hyperlocal news for Manhattan

DoD Buzz – A (mostly) one-man show reporting on the Pentagon

ecoRI – Community engagement through environmental news (and composting)

Education News Colorado – The “paper of record” for Colorado education policymaking

E&E Publishing – High-cost subscription coverage of environment and energy policy and markets

Eleven Warriors – News and commentary on Ohio State football

Engadget – Tech news the AOL way

Eugene Daily News – Sports and lifestyle news for Eugene, Oregon

Evanston Now – A hyperlocal news site holds its own in a media-saturated Chicago suburb

Eye on Annapolis – Unadorned, up-to-the-minute news for Maryland’s capital city

Factcheck.org – A consumer advocate for voters

FailedMessiah.com – News and investigations from within ultra-orthodox Judaism

Fair Warning – Consumer-oriented investigative journalism

The Faster Times – Creative revenue earning from an online publication/writers’ collective

Fayetteville Flyer – A music site that made the leap to general news

First Arkansas News – News, musings, and pre-television radio serials

FITSNews – Impolitic South Carolina political news

The Florida Center for Investigative Reporting – A pioneering bilingual investigative nonprofit

The Florida Current – Exhaustive statehouse reporting and research in the Sunshine State

The Florida Independent – Legislative watchdogging and more

Florida Voices – A digital editorial page for the Sunshine State

The Forum – Local news for four small New Hampshire towns

Front Porch Forum – Social networking and citizen journalism in northern Vermont

Gapers Block – Chicago’s first city-wide news and culture blog

Gawker – Pioneers of Internet snark branch out toward general interest news

GazeboNews – News and “stuff” for two affluent Chicago suburbs

GigaOm – The site offers predictive technology coverage, and has itself been a leader in earning web revenue

GlobalPost – A new news agency helping to fill the gaps in foreign reporting

Gossip Extra – Celebrity news goes local in South Florida

Gotham Gazette – Detailed reporting on New York City governance

Gothamist – A pioneer of the city blog format

GothamSchools – Original reporting on the largest school system in the country

Grand Prairie Reporter – News by a former USPS employee turned reporter in the Dallas-Fort Worth area

Great Lakes Echo – Sharp science news with a sense of humor

Grist – Irreverent online environmental magazine offers in-depth reporting with “secret sauce”

GrossePointeToday.com – Nonprofit hyperlocal news in suburban Detroit

HealthNewsReview.org – A watchdog for health care journalism

The Heavy Table – Food journalism and criticism for the upper Midwest

The Hechinger Report – Strengthening education reporting nationwide

Hispanic Nashville – News for a community within a community

Hollywood Elsewhere – One man channeling a “daily stream-of-Hollywood-consciousness”

Homicide Watch – Reinventing the homicide beat for the digital age

Honolulu Civil Beat – A journalistic “civic square” in the Aloha State

The Huffington Post – The online news behemoth grows up

IGN – The web’s definitive video game press

indieWIRE – Independent film news for fans, filmmakers, and insiders

InMaricopa – Online community news for an Arizona town damaged by the housing crisis

Inner City Press – A one-man show reporting on the United Nations

Innovation Trail – Public radio takes to the web to cover upstate New York’s transitioning economy

InsideClimate News – Environment news and investigations

Inside the Hall – The go-to site for Hoosier basketball fanatics

Inside Facebook – Data-heavy news and analysis of the Internet’s hottest property

Intersections South Los Angeles – USC students report on their neighboring communities

Investigate West – Investigative journalism for the Pacific Northwest

Investigative Reporting Workshop – Multimedia reporting in a university setting

The Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism – Investigative reporting for the Hawkeye State

The Iowa Independent – An early member of the American Independent News Network, all grown up

The Iowa Republican – Reporting-heavy partisan news

Issue Media Group – A network of feel-good local business news sites

The Ithaca Independent – One man among the gorges

Jersey City Independent – Eye-opening alternative news for a bedroom community on the Hudson

Journal Watchdog – A print startup’s bold online muckracking operation

Leimert Park Beat – A hyperlocal news site and social network for a neighborhood in Los Angeles

The Lens – Investigative reporting on The Big Easy

Lexington Commons – A voice for Lexington’s nonprofit organizations

LiveScience – Science news at light speed

The Local East Village – NYU student reporting for the NYT

LocallyGrownNews.com – A network of news sites devoted to local food coverage

The Locust Fork News-Journal – A one-man purveyor of mobile journalism performance art

The Lo-Down – News for New York’s Lower East Side

The Los Angeles Review of Books – A one-man purveyor of mobile journalism performance art

LymeLine – Hyperlocal news for two small Connecticut towns

Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting – Filling the reporting gap in Maine’s state capital

The Manomet Current – Hyperlocal news for two Plymouth, Mass. townships

MediaStorm – Multimedia outlet meets production house

Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting – A one-man investigative unit in the heartland

Milford Live – Hyperlocal news for a small town in Delaware

MinnPost – The Twin Cities startup is seeking loyal readers for hard news

Mint Press News – A privately financed international news startup in Minnesota

Missouri Journal – Government and political news for the Show Me State

Missouri Scout – Subscription-based niche political news from a stockbroker turned political junkie

My Edmonds News – A burgeoning news source and business in the Seattle suburbs

MyEugene – Community news and citizen journalism for Oregon’s second city

MyVeronaNJ.com – Wide-ranging hyperlocal news for a New York City suburb

National Institute on Money in State Politics – Tracking political donations and their influence in all fifty states

The Natomas Buzz – Hyperlocal news for a Sacramento, Calif. community

NEast Philly – Neighborhood news for working-class Philadelphia

Nebraska Watchdog – Think tank-funded investigations for the Cornhusker State

Neighborhood Notes – Hyperlocal news and advertising in Portland, Oregon

Neon Tommy – A student-run news site with a national reputation

Nevada News Bureau – Think tank-funded statehouse news for the Battle Born State

New America Media – A news wire (and much more) for America’s ethnic press

New England Center for Investigative Reporting – Hard-hitting investigations in and around the Boston area

New Hampshire Watchdog – Long-term investigations, libertarian style

New Haven Independent – Connecticut-based leader in nonprofit community news

New West – News, analysis, and culture reporting for the Rocky Mountain region

The New York World – Accountability journalism from recent Columbia J-School alums

NewsOne – Original and aggregated national news for black America

The News Outlet – College students report local news for northeastern Ohio

NJ Spotlight – Trenton’s statehouse startup

NMPolitics.net – State politics from southern New Mexico

NOLA Defender – Edgy arts and culture coverage for a cultural mecca

Noozhawk – Reporting (and financing) the news in Santa Barbara, Calif.

NOWCastSA – Multimedia community news for San Antonio, Texas

Oakland Local – Susan Mernit & co. cover their corner of the Bay

Obit Magazine – Making the most of the dead beat

Ocean Beach Bulletin – Hyperlocal news for San Francisco’s western edge

Oklahoma Watch – An investigative nonprofit for the Sooner State

Open Media Boston – Boston news and progressive commentary

OpenSecrets.org – Exhaustive reporting on money in politics

Oswego County Today – An early online news source by a mayor-turned-newsman

Ozarks Unbound – One man (and three contributors) in the wide world of northwest Arkansas

paidContent – Covering the business of digital media since 2002

Patch – AOL’s fast-growing hyperlocal network

PatersonPress.com – Hard news meets hyperlocal in Paterson, N.J.

Peach Pundit – Conservative local political commentary from the founders of RedState

Pegasus News – News, entertainment, and local information for the Dallas-Fort Worth area

Philadelphia Neighborhoods – Award-winning student journalism from Temple University

Pitchfork – The prolific online music reviewer/kingmaker

Plains Daily – Right-leaning reporting for North Dakota

Planet Princeton – One reporter goes from freelance to Facebook to hyperlocal

PlanPhilly – Reporting on urban planning and Philadelphia’s changing neighborhoods

Plunderbund – Ohio state politics from a progressive point of view

Plymouth Daily News – Hyperlocal news for “America’s hometown”

Politico – The site that defined the twenty-four-hour news cycle

PopMatters – Pop culture criticism with an academic bent

Portland Afoot – Portland-based transportation advocacy

ThePortlander – Portland-centric news with a casual flair

The Post – Social media gurus of South Dakota

Prairie Village Post – Hyperlocal news for three small Kansas City suburbs

Prince of Petworth – Purveyor of D.C. local news and oddities

Progress Illinois – A labor-backed site providing original news and analysis beyond the mainstream

ProPublica – The web’s best-known muckraker

Publicola – Extensive political coverage for Seattle and Washington state

Quorum Report – A pioneer in niche online coverage, reporting on Texas politics since 1998

The Rapidian – Grand Rapids-based citizen journalism

redbankgreen – Hyperlocal news for Red Bank, New Jersey

Remapping Debate – An NYC-based site that seeks to throw a wrench in conventional wisdom on public policy

Republic Tiger Sports – Extensive sports coverage for a school district in Missouri

Richmond Bizsense – An online-only business journal for Virginia’s capital

Rio Grande Guardian – An online-only news source for South Texas

RiverheadLocal – Local news and web advertising for Riverhead, Long Island

Rocky Mountain Investigative News Network – Investigative journalism with statewide import and local impact

The Root – A strong online presence for the African American press

Rust Wire – Reporting on urban and social issues in the Rust Belt

RVANews – Richmond’s online-only news source

The Sacramento Press – An ad network helps pay the bills for local news

The Saginaw Valley Journal – A for-profit campus news source

The St. Louis Beacon – News that matters for St. Louis

Salon – The general interest online magazine has learned to get specific

The Sanatoga Post – A one-man news network in Pennsylvania

The San Francisco Appeal – An online newspaper for the Bay Area

SanFranPreps.com – Exhaustive high school sports reporting for San Francisco

The Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University – The first university-based investigative nonprofit

Seattle PostGlobe – Seattle-centric reporting and aggregation, and a place for former Post-Intelligencer staffers to practice their craft (DEFUNCT

Sheepshead Bites – Hyperlocal stories by the seaside in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn

Silicon Bayou News – News for (and by) the New Orleans tech scene

Silicon Prairie News – A home on the range for Midwest tech coverage

Slant – Omnivorous pop culture criticism

Slate – The Internet’s old guard general interest publication has never slowed down

Small Wars Journal – An information hub and blogging network for some of the biggest names in military thought

Solutions – Colorado’s source for health policy reporting and discussion

SomervilleToday.com – Hyperlocal news for a small town in New Jersey

South King Media – A network of six hyperlocals in Washington State

Sports Gab Network – A network of over seventy sports blogs with a special focus on the NFL

StarkvilleNow.com – Local news and aggregation for a college town in Mississippi

Stateline.org – Filling a reporting vacuum at statehouses nationwide

Street Fight – A news source for the burgeoning hyperlocal industry

Streetsblog – Public transportation reporters/advocates in NYC, DC, LA, and SF

Summit County Citizens Voice – Local news and environment coverage for Summit County, Colo.

Talking Points Memo – The pioneer of web-based political journalism

TBD – D.C. arts, culture, and events listings from a once-anointed champion of the local web

TechCrunch – The tech startup news news startup

Technically Philly – Detailed coverage of the Philadelphia tech scene

The Texas Tribune – Political reporting and investigations for the Lone Star State

Texas Watchdog – A government watchdog for the Lone Star State

Theme Park Insider – News and reviews for theme park enthusiasts

This Land Press – Place-based literary journalism in and about Oklahoma

TownSquareBuzz.com – Community and sports news for a Dallas-Fort Worth suburb

Tucson Sentinel – Continuing an underdog media legacy in Tucson

Twin Cities Daily Planet – Citizen-powered local news for Minneapolis and St. Paul

Universal Hub – A wicked smart Boston hyperlocal

Urban Milwaukee – Reporting and advocacy on urban issues in the Cream City

UtahPolicy.com – Political news for Beehive State political insiders

Village Soup – A small media chain blends print and digital local journalism

VTDigger.org – Deep coverage for the Green Mountain State

voiceofsandiego.org – A nonprofit news innovator in Southern California

Washington Independent Review of Books – Serious-minded reviews of books across the literary spectrum

The Watchdog Institute – Investigative journalism for San Diego and beyond

Watchdog New England – A catalyst for investigative reporting in Boston and beyond

Watershed Post – News and environmental reporting for the Catskills

Welles Park Bulldog – News and sports for Chicago’s North Side

West Orlando News Online – Left-of-center community news for Orlando, Fla.

West Philly Local – Hyperlocal news and events for 50,000 Philadelphians

West Seattle Blog – Defining hyperlocal in both news and business

West Virginia Watchdog – Think tank-funded West Virginia political news and investigations

Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism – Investigative reporting for the Badger State

Worthit2u.net – Bringing online news to rural Georgia

WyoFile – Enterprise reporting for the Equality State

Yadkin Valley Sports – High school sports news for eighteen schools in central North Carolina

Yale Environment 360 – In-depth environmental news, commentary, and analysis

Y’all Politics – Extensive aggregation and commentary on Mississippi politics

YubaNet – Online news stretching the Sierras

Michael Canyon Meyer is a freelance journalist and former CJR staff writer. Follow him on Twitter at @mcm_nm.