CJR's Guide to Online News Startups

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BUSSUM, NETHERLANDS — Two Dutch guys met at a party in Amsterdam. A month later, they had a magazine. Jochem Wijnands, who... More >

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Jul 27, 2011 02:48 PM
Gotham Gazette

Detailed reporting on New York City governance
By Connor Boals
NEW YORK, NEW YORK — It's no secret that many Americans are shamefully uninformed about their elected representatives, particularly at the local level. The blame for this can often go as much to local press as to citizens themselves, but thanks to Gotham Gazette, an online source for what's happening in the world of NYC government, citizens of the nation's largest metropolis will have to to blame something other than the media if they can't name their borough president or...
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Mar 24, 2011 01:03 PM
Gothamist

A pioneer of the city blog format
By Armin Rosen
NEW YORK, NEW YORK — In an over-saturated New York media market, there are few news sources that can claim even a modest percentage of the city's attention. Gothamist's constantly updated coverage of offbeat, interesting, and generally important news stories in New York City lacks the ubiquity of, say, the front page of the New York Post, but it's getting there. The site's New York branch gets over 10 million monthly page views; the broader Gothamist network, which includes blogs...
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May 18, 2011 03:33 PM
GothamSchools

Original reporting on the largest school system in the country
By Arvin Temkar
NEW YORK, NEW YORK — As battles rage over education reform nationwide, one tiny New York news site reports on New York City's public school system--the nation's largest--with coverage that endeavors to be "fact-based, constructive, and non-ideological." GothamSchools reports on the nitty-gritty of the city's education system, from explaining how schools shut down to analyzing mayoral policies. Read more about GothamSchools The site began in 2008 as a project of OpenPlans, a nonprofit organization that develops websites and software to...
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Feb 16, 2012 01:09 PM
Grand Prairie Reporter

News by a former USPS employee turned reporter in the Dallas-Fort Worth area
By David Riedel
GRAND PRAIRIE, TEXAS — "I'm a reporter. I am not a journalist," says Grand Prairie Reporter founder Bob Fitch. "I don't want to degrade the craft of journalism. I can't write and paint a picture with words." Fitch's writing style is utilitarian and not nearly as bad as he claims, but he does try to keep stories on the Reporter at 250 words or fewer, and stays away from in-depth reporting. Read more about Grand Prairie Reporter Fitch has a...
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Feb 18, 2011 12:29 PM
Great Lakes Echo

Sharp science news with a sense of humor
By Justin Yang
EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN — Residents of the Great Lakes region have one publication to thank for their understanding of the menace that is the zebra mussel, clogger of power plant intake pipes. That publication is the Great Lakes Echo. A project of the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism at Michigan State University, the Echo aims to build environmental awareness of the Great Lakes region. Founded in 2008, the site's staff primarily consists of four to five graduate assistants who work...
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Jan 4, 2011 05:17 PM
Grist

Irreverent online environmental magazine offers in-depth reporting with "secret sauce"
By Brett Norman
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON — Grist is an irreverent online environmental magazine that aggressively courts young readers, ad dollars, and philanthropic backers. Launched in 1999, the publication could be considered an octogenarian in web years, but maintains the tenor of a cheerful young rebel. To celebrate the nonprofit's tenth anniversary, Grist founder and CEO Chip Giller announced a "Screw Earth Day!" campaign, saying "too many people tokenize Earth Day, using it as an excuse to hug a tree one day and ram...
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Jan 12, 2012 10:19 AM
GrossePointeToday.com

Nonprofit hyperlocal news in suburban Detroit
By Maura R. O'Connor
GROSSE POINTE, MICHIGAN — When the 2010 Census was released, it revealed some interesting changes in the metro Detroit community of Grosse Pointe. Whereas in 2000 the non-white population of the area was marginal, in 2010 the percentage of minorities had risen steeply. The number of African Americans living in Grosse Pointe area, for instance, had increased by 300 percent. The online news site GrossePointeToday.com jumped on the story, publishing a 2,000-word piece that addressed the area's historically racist legacy...
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Jul 15, 2011 11:39 AM
HealthNewsReview.org

A watchdog for health care journalism
By Maura R. O'Connor
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA — The job of a health care reporter is to provide accurate, objective coverage of the health care industry. Yet in Gary Schwitzer's opinion, that rarely happens in the American media. "The marketing forces in health care are so overwhelming even good journalists may not realize they're being sold a bill of goods when they are," says Schwitzer, a former news reporter for CNN and current journalism professor at the University of Minnesota. "There is a shocking...
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Mar 24, 2011 10:50 PM
Hispanic Nashville

News for a community within a community
By Dylan DePice
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE — The rise of the Internet, along with some significant (and not coincidental) old-media belt-tightening, has inspired many a traditional journalist to look for work on the web. But that's not the story of Hispanic Nashville. John Lamb created the blog in 2003 as a means of highlighting local media coverage of Nashville's Hispanic community, and has developed the site into a news source in its own right. Neither a displaced nor aspiring journalist, he has no...
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Jun 30, 2011 12:51 PM
Hollywood Elsewhere

One man channeling a "daily stream-of-Hollywood-consciousness"
By Joel Meares
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA — The summer of 2011 is shaping up to be a pretty grim one for curmudgeonly film blogger Jeffrey Wells. Wells, who opines daily on film and the movie industry on his website Hollywood Elsewhere, hates the special effects-packed event flicks that Joe Popcorns, as he calls them, seem to love. And this summer has offered Joe P. more than his usual share of just such treats: The Green Lantern, Captain America, Thor, another Transformers, an eighth...
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Mar 5, 2012 11:56 AM
Homicide Watch

Reinventing the homicide beat for the digital age
By Maura R. O'Connor
WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA — Mico Briscoe. Black. Male. 18. Shot on November 26, 2011. Marcellus J. Darnaby, aka "Boom." Black. Male. 32. Shot on June 15, 2011. Lucki Nancy Pannell. Black. Female. 18. Shot on February 19, 2011. These are just a few of the 152 homicides currently listed on HomicideWatchDC.org. In the coming months and years, that number is sure to increase. Since September 2010, Laura Amico, the site's founder, has tracked every single homicide that has occurred...
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Feb 23, 2011 06:32 PM
Honolulu Civil Beat

A journalistic "civic square"
By Alex Fekula
HONOLULU, HAWAII — Honolulu Civil Beat is the brainchild of eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and former eBay exec Randy Ching, both of whom attended high school in the Aloha State. The pair shared a common goal, in Omidyar's words, of "empowering citizens and encouraging greater civic participation through media." In keeping with this mission, they envisioned a site that considered audience participation to be as important as reporting stories. The pair enlisted John Temple, the former (and final) editor of...
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Recently Updated: Jan 4, 2011 01:59 PM
I-News

Colorado investigative journalism with statewide import and local impact
By Colin Fleming
DENVER, COLORADO — On December 16, 2010, Laura Frank, the executive director of I-News (formerly known as the Rocky Mountain Investigative News Network), delivered her commencement speech for the University of Colorado's soon-to-be-defunct journalism school. Frank was optimistic about the future of the industry: "I now recognize you actually are embarking on this adventure at one of the most exciting times - perhaps the most exciting time - in the history of journalism and mass communication," she said. "Never have...
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Jan 5, 2011 04:06 PM
IGN

The web's definitive video game press
By Sean Gandert
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA — IGN, which began in 1996 as just another video game site in a flood of similar sites with a similar voice, has become one of the behemoths of Internet journalism, with over 13 million unique visitors a month and a staff size rivaling that of many newspapers. Its success is a model for how a Web site can tap a specific niche audience and do so well enough to create a publication that goes beyond the...
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Jan 3, 2011 04:54 PM
indieWIRE

Independent film news for fans, filmmakers, and insiders
By Sean Gandert
NEW YORK, NEW YORK — IndieWIRE is a daily news site and online resource that covers all aspects of specialty and independent film. Founded in 1996, the site is known for its dogged coverage of film festivals around the world and its efforts to support the independent filmmaking community itself. The site's multifaceted approach to film coverage has earned it a following among fans and industry professionals alike. Read more about indieWIRE "We sort of look at our audience as...
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