CJR's Guide to Online News Startups

Please choose from the following categories to sort the News Startups listings.

Location:

Business Type:

Year Founded:

Business Staff Size:

Institutional Support:

Type of Coverage:

Revenue Sources:

Editorial Staff Size:

Active Volunteers:

CJR's Guide to Online News Startups FAQ

Learn more about the database, and how you can help us improve it: click here.

Add to the Database

If you'd like to recommend an organization for inclusion in CJR's Guide to Online News Startups, let us know via email here. If you operate a news outlet and would like your organization to be included, click here.

Jul 18, 2011 11:55 AM
paidContent

Covering the business of digital media since 2002
By Joel Meares
NEW YORK, NEW YORK — In 2008, when Guardian News & Media bought Rafat Ali's ContentNext Media, Ali wrote that the acquisition marked the "2.0 phase" of his company. It was an aptly webby phrase from the man who six years earlier founded ContentNext's flagship site, paidContent.org, with the aim of obsessively covering the economics of the then just-emerging world...
Continue reading
Mar 1, 2012 10:37 AM
Patch

AOL's fast-growing hyperlocal network
By Lauren Kirchner
NEW YORK, NEW YORK —In February 2009, South Orange, Maplewood, and Milburn-Short Hills, three small but relatively affluent New Jersey communities, became the first towns to host a local Patch site, launching a network that has since grown to include more than 860 sites in twenty-two states and Washington, D.C. Because of its rapid expansion and the accompanying media scrutiny, Patch has played a central...
Continue reading
Feb 24, 2012 11:29 AM
Patch (California)

AOL's fast-growing hyperlocal network
By AJ Hudson
California is a place for experimentation for Patch, as it extends its coverage to two large communities there: the military and their families, and the Latino population. The network's first attempt at a "Patch Military" site is Camp Pendleton Patch; while it is not sponsored by the Marine Corps base, it is run by a former US Marine. Meanwhile, the first three "Patch...
Continue reading
Feb 24, 2012 11:50 AM
Patch (Connecticut)

AOL's fast-growing hyperlocal network
By Annie Wu
Connecticut was the second state to host a Patch site. The network came to the state just after launching in New Jersey and just before expansion into New York. The state's first Patch launched in the summer of 2009 in the southern town of New Canaan. It has since expanded to include 62 sites covering towns across the state. CTWatchdog.com, a...
Continue reading
Feb 24, 2012 12:04 PM
Patch (District of Columbia)

AOL's fast-growing hyperlocal network
By AJ Hudson
The nation's capital is home to just one Patch. The site covers the ritzy neighborhood of Georgetown, which is home to the university of the same name. The site includes coverage of university news and events, developments on the ever-pressing issues of real estate and traffic, and an ongoing "Best-of" debate about Georgetown's most desirable cocktails. Though Georgetown Patch is alone...
Continue reading
Feb 24, 2012 12:35 PM
Patch (Florida)

AOL's fast-growing hyperlocal network
By AJ Hudson
Patch expanded into Florida in late 2010, and currently has nineteen sites in the state. As an early state in the 2012 GOP primary and a battleground state in the general election, Florida fits nicely with Patch editor-in-chief Brian Farnham's goal (discussed with CJR last year) to involve Patch in 2012 election coverage, and with AOL's goal to cash in on political ad...
Continue reading
Feb 24, 2012 12:47 PM
Patch (Georgia)

AOL's fast-growing hyperlocal network
By AJ Hudson
Patch moved to Georgia in 2010, and has since rolled out forty-three sites in the state. Some sites focus on entire cities, such as Athens or Marietta, while others stick to the Atlanta suburbs--a more common model for Patch sites nationwide. Read CJR's full profile of the Patch network here. Patch has launched more than 860 sites in...
Continue reading
Feb 24, 2012 12:54 PM
Patch (Illinois)

AOL's fast-growing hyperlocal network
By AJ Hudson
Illinois has one of the larger collections of Patch sites-fifty-nine in all. Not surprisingly, the sites are most prevalent in the Chicago suburbs. The state also includes two universities contributing to coverage through the "PatchU" program: Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and the Columbia College Chicago Journalism Department. Read CJR's full profile of the Patch network here. Patch has launched more than...
Continue reading
Feb 24, 2012 01:00 PM
Patch (Iowa)

AOL's fast-growing hyperlocal network
By AJ Hudson
Iowa is currently home to nine Patch sites, with one more launching soon. These nine sites were part of a push to populate Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina with Patches in time for the 2012 Republican primary/caucus season. Read CJR's full profile of the Patch network here. Patch has launched more than 860 sites in twenty-two states plus the District...
Continue reading
Feb 24, 2012 01:06 PM
Patch (Maryland)

AOL's fast-growing hyperlocal network
By AJ Hudson
A relatively small state geographically, Maryland is home to a huge number of Patch sites. There are currently fifty-two live sites, with more in the works. Home to both Baltimore and D.C. suburbs, the state is a prime spot for Patch's strategy of targeting affluent, technologically savvy communities. Read CJR's full profile of the Patch network here. Patch has launched more than 860...
Continue reading
Feb 24, 2012 01:11 PM
Patch (Massachusetts)

AOL's fast-growing hyperlocal network
By AJ Hudson
Patch brought its business to Massachusetts in early 2010, launching sites in coverage in Marlborough, Sudbury, Wellesley, Newton, Quincy, Belmont, Bedford, Milton, Needham and Concord. Among its competitors at the time were CentralMassNews.com, and a host of print newspapers that also maintained online presences. Read CJR's full profile of the Patch network here. Patch has launched...
Continue reading
Feb 24, 2012 01:17 PM
Patch (Michigan)

AOL's fast-growing hyperlocal network
By AJ Hudson
Patch expanded into Michigan in 2010 as part of a push that included several other Midwestern states. The network has since launched a total of twenty-nine sites in the Great Lakes State, many in the Detroit suburbs.] Read CJR's full profile of the Patch network here. Patch has launched more than 860 sites in twenty-two states plus the District of Columbia....
Continue reading
Feb 24, 2012 01:22 PM
Patch (Minnesota)

AOL's fast-growing hyperlocal network
By AJ Hudson
Patch expanded into Minnesota in 2010 as part of a push that included several other Midwestern states. There are currently twenty-five individual Patch sites in Minnesota. Although sites are concentrated around the Twin Cities, coverage areas vary from urban areas like Southwest Minneapolis to suburbs like Richfield to slightly farther flung towns like Northfield. Read CJR's full...
Continue reading
Feb 24, 2012 01:27 PM
Patch (Missouri)

AOL's fast-growing hyperlocal network
By Justin Yang
Patch expanded into Missouri in 2010 as part of a push that included several other Midwestern states. There are currently twenty-four individual Patch sites in Missouri, and the Missouri School of Journalism contributes to coverage of the state as part of the PatchU program. Read CJR's full profile of the Patch network here. Patch has launched more than 860...
Continue reading
Feb 24, 2012 12:14 PM
Patch (New Hampshire)

AOL's fast-growing hyperlocal network
By Justin Yang
Patch launched in New Hampshire in June of 2011 in anticipation of the 2012 presidential election primaries. As Arianna Huffington, president of AOL Huffington Post Media Group, remarked, the expansion would put Patch "squarely on the front lines of the presidential campaign." Patch's initial New Hampshire launch consisted of ten communities: Amherst, Bedford, Concord, Exeter, Hampton-North Hampton, Merrimack, Nashua, Portsmouth, Salem, and Windham....
Continue reading