CJR's Guide to Online News Startups

1. Results

   Organizations filtered by Training.

1. Mar 1, 2012 04:14 PM

   55423.info

   A community college-affiliated hyperlocal for Richfield, Minn.

   By Leah Binkovitz

   RICHFIELD, MINNESOTA — Mark Plenke, a journalism and communications instructor at Normandale Community College, created 55423.info during his recent yearlong sabbatical, envisioning the site as both a news outlet for the town of Richfield and a hands-on course for his students. Before launching the site (which takes its name from Richfield's zip code), Plenke conducted a survey of 43 community members at a...

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2. Jul 21, 2011 05:46 PM

   Common Language Project

   In-depth human rights reporting and multimedia storytelling

   By Connor Boals

   SEATTLE, WASHINGTON —In 2005, three friends on their way to becoming freshly anointed college grads had an idea. They were budding journalists with global ambitions who didn't want to sit on their hands while foreign coverage in American newspapers continued to fade. The three, Sarah Stuteville, Alex Stonehill, and Jessica Partnow, decided to take a trip to about a dozen countries in Southeast Asia and...

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3. Jan 26, 2012 01:55 PM

   Connecticut Health Investigative Team

   Far-reaching niche investigations for the Nutmeg State

   By Maura R. O'Connor

   NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT — In 2010, award-winning journalist Lisa Chedekel published a story detailing how more than a dozen Connecticut doctors who had been sanctioned in other states for illegal or substandard practices were able to practice freely in Connecticut. She found that Connecticut rarely took action against doctors, even when their licenses had been censured in other states. When published in December...

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4. Feb 3, 2011 05:14 PM

   Florida Center for Investigative Reporting

   A pioneer bilingual investigative nonprofit

   By Justin Yang

   MIAMI, FLORIDA — When the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting (FCIR) received a $100,000 grant from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation in September of 2010, it marked the launch of Florida's first nonprofit bilingual online investigative reporting organization. Located at the International Media Center at Florida International University, FCIR is emerging as a leader in investigative news and an innovator...

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5. 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...

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6. 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...

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7. Jan 4, 2011 02:10 PM

   Investigative Newsource

   Investigative journalism for San Diego and beyond

   By Colin Fleming

   SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA — Investigative editor Lorie Hearn does it all. She runs the business, raises the funds, edits the stories, does the books, and dusts the office. She even brings the bagels and cream cheese. Hearn, a former editor for the San Diego Union-Tribune, now leads Investigate Newsource, formerly known as The Watchdog Institute, a three-person nonprofit investigative outlet run out of San...

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8. Oct 6, 2011 05:15 PM

   MediaStorm

   Multimedia outlet meets production house

   By Lauren Kirchner

   BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — Above the cobblestone streets of Brooklyn's DUMBO neighborhood, the producers, engineers, and cinematographers of MediaStorm are producing some of the most arresting and moving stories online today. While side-stepping the news cycle in favor of more timeless features, their particular brand of multimedia narrative is attracting online viewers from 170 countries around the globe. It has also helped the...

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9. Mar 24, 2011 04:45 PM

   Nevada News Bureau

   Franklin Center-affiliated statehouse news for the Battle Born State

   By Brendan Buhler

   HENDERSON, NEVADA — The Nevada News Bureau is a nonprofit organization launched in October 2009 to cover state politics and statehouse news and provide its work free of charge to other outlets in the Battle Born State. It was originally formed under the auspices of Citizen Outreach, a conservative nonprofit organization run by Chuck Muth, Nevada's leading conservative anti-tax activist. Elizabeth Crum, formerly Citizen...

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10. Jan 4, 2011 01:33 PM

    New England Center for Investigative Reporting

    Hard-hitting investigations in and around the Boston area

    By Colin Fleming

    BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS — In less than two years and with an annual budget of less than $500,000, the New England Center for Investigative Reporting has taken on the state division of banks and the Salvation Army. They've brought down a high-level public official, and had their work appear in publications across the state and in every medium imaginable. And they've...

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11. Jan 5, 2011 06:00 PM

    Oakland Local

    Susan Mernit & co. cover their corner of the Bay

    By David Downs

    OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA — Born from the community outrage that followed a local police-on-civilian killing caught on cell phone and spread across the Internet, one-year-old Oakland Local hopes to grow its professional reporting in 2011, while keeping its street-level perspective on the sometimes dangerous California port city it covers. Founder Susan Mernit edits and publishes the Local with an editorial staff of eight--none of whom...

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12. May 2, 2011 04:17 PM

    Technically Philly

    Detailed coverage of the Philadelphia tech scene

    By Daniel Denvir

    PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA — Like so many young journalism school graduates, Sean Blanda, Brian James Kirk, and Christopher Wink could not find jobs in 2008. Philadelphia's two dailies had shed hundreds of positions, and plenty of highly experienced older reporters were ready to apply for anything that opened up. The job market was, "in a word, awful," says Blanda. "The three of us felt like we...

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13. Oct 25, 2011 11:47 AM

    Texas Watchdog

    A government watchdog for the Lone Star State

    By Timothy Bella

    HOUSTON, TEXAS — The audience that reads Texas Watchdog's reporting may not be familiar with the news site or the organization behind it, but that's okay by TW. "Being online, half our visitors, quite frankly, don't know who Texas Watchdog is, and they don't care who Texas Watchdog is," says Trent Seibert, the site's founder and editor-in-chief. All that matters is the quality...

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14. Apr 20, 2012 06:22 PM

    The Local East Village

    NYU student reporting for the NYT

    By Maura R. O'Connor

    NEW YORK, NEW YORK — In 2009, The New York Times made drastic changes in its approach to local news. The year saw the closure of the papers City section, but also the launch of The Local. A web-based hyperlocal reporting initiative, The Local created two separate sections of nytimes.com: one devoted to the Brooklyn neighborhood of Fort Greene and...

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15. May 19, 2011 04:01 PM

    The News Outlet

    College students report local news for northeastern Ohio

    By Connor Boals

    YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO — Faced with an increase in journalism majors and the general decay of legacy media coverage in the Mahoning Valley region of northern Ohio, Youngstown State University journalism professors Alyssa Lenhoff and Tim Francisco created The News Outlet, a collaborative effort between the university and several local media outlets. The founders hoped the site's journalism would not only fill a hole in local...

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16. Sep 21, 2011 11:39 AM

    The Sacramento Press

    An ad network helps pay the bills for local news

    By Caitlin Kasunich

    SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA — Before October 2008, Ben Ilfeld and Geoff Samek, the founders of The Sacramento Press, had no journalism experience. In college, Ilfeld had studied economics and political science, while Samek had studied computer science. What the Sacramento natives did have in common, though, was a desire to develop a new website emphasizing reader discussion around local news and events. Before long,...

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17. Mar 24, 2011 03:16 PM

    UtahPolicy.com

    Political news for Beehive State political insiders

    By Chris Benz

    SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH — For an example of how to deliver a massive amount of information with minimal manpower, look no further than UtahPolicy.com. Founded in 2004, the site is a news aggregator, but it also aggregates politicians' press releases, pdfs of proposed legislation, and other original materials. All of this is leavened with a dash of original reporting and analysis. <!-- OPEN...

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18. Oct 26, 2011 05:27 PM

    Village Soup

    A small media chain blends print and digital local journalism

    By Lauren Kirchner

    ROCKLAND, MAINE — [UPDATE: On Friday March 9, 2012 Village Soup president Richard M. Anderson announced the closure of all Village Soup publications. In a story announcing that the company's properties would be sold at auction, the Bangor Daily News reported that Village Net Media, the Village Soup parent company, faced two outstanding loans from the First National Bank of Damariscotta. The initial...

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19. Feb 22, 2012 01:38 PM

    Welles Park Bulldog

    News and sports for Chicago's North Side

    By Ian Fullerton

    CHICAGO, ILLINOIS — The Welles Park Bulldog takes its name from a picturesque public park in Chicago's Ravenswood neighborhood, and delivers insight and opinion on politics, culture, and sports for a dense stretch of residential and mixed-use boroughs on Chicago's North Side. The site's founder and publisher, Patrick Boylan, first had the idea that would eventually become the Bulldog in 2009. "I had...

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