Selecting the first cohort of the Tiny News Collective
The six organizations in our inaugural cohort were drawn from a pool of more than 40 nascent organizations which applied. We wish we had the capacity to work closely with all of them. Their applications were filled with ideas and passion for bringing news to communities not currently being served. The founders we heard from all share our understanding of the urgent need to make sure their communities are reflected and represented.
The Tiny News Collective was aided in the selection of this cohort through the thoughtful and experienced perspectives of our selection team. The group came together over the course of the past few months to evaluate all of our applications, interview applicants and share their valuable insight into how we can improve this process for future founders.
We’ll be sharing a deep dive into our thinking behind our application and selection processes soon, but in the meantime, we want to introduce the team who helped the Tiny News Collective with the selection of our first cohort.
As the Tiny News Collective moves forward, the valuable insights from people who are deeply engaged with the multifaceted challenge of building a new future for local journalism is essential. We’re deeply grateful to have had the opportunity to work with these journalism leaders.
The Selection Team
Sarah Alvarez launched Outlier Media in 2016 after years of trying to figure out how journalists could do a better job filling information gaps and increasing accountability to low-income news consumers. Before founding Outlier Media, she worked as a senior producer and reporter at Michigan Radio, the statewide NPR affiliate. In that role, she covered issues important to low-income families, child welfare and disability.
Bryant is the founder and editor of BigIfTrue.org, a nonprofit news site focused on inequality. Bryant has worked in the journalism industry since 2010 as a reporter specializing in public records and data. Before starting BigIfTrue.org in 2017, Bryant worked for investigative news nonprofit Oklahoma Watch, where she covered the state legislature and state agencies. She previously served as an investigative reporter for The Clarion-Ledger in Mississippi and as an education and enterprise reporter for The Amarillo Globe-News in Texas. Bryant has received awards for her work from the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors, the Louisiana-Mississippi Associated Press Managing Editors, the Oklahoma Society for Professional Journalists and the USA Today Network.
“Being a part of the TNC selection committee made me think a lot about the mission of journalism and the vital role local newsrooms play in informing their communities. I’m excited to see what’s on the way from TNC and this passionate, determined group of journalists.”
Darryl Holliday is a journalist, participatory media advocate and media entrepreneur based in Chicago. He’s the co-founder and News Lab Director at City Bureau, a civic journalism lab based on Chicago’s South Side, where he manages the Documenters Network and impact evaluation efforts across the organization. In 2019, Darryl led a team in the creation of Documenters.org, an award-winning web app that enables people to investigate public meetings, get trained and paid to monitor their local government and make meaningful connections with civic collaborators in their area.
“The TNC process was thoughtful, equitable and exciting — and it was an honor to be involved with some of the best minds in local journalism. I’m looking forward to seeing what these Tiny Newsrooms do next.”
Kate B. Maxwell is the publisher and co-founder of The Mendocino Voice, an online local news outlet in Northern California, and a 20–21 JSK Community Impact Fellow. Prior to starting The Mendocino Voice in 2016, she worked as a reporter in Mendocino County in print, online and radio, with her work being published in regional and national outlets. Throughout her work, Maxwell has focused on increasing democratic engagement with and access to local and public media, ranging from libraries to local news. She has also been the co-owner of a co-op bookstore, an archivist, an oral historian, and an ice cream truck driver, and visits the ocean as often as possible.
“Reading through the varied and passionate proposals for tiny local newsrooms across the county reassured me that the future of local news contains many exciting possibilities, and it was an honor to learn about their ideas. I’m excited to see what all applicants will create as they pursue and refine their projects, whether through TNC or other efforts, and inspired to see the next generation of local newsrooms take root.”
Kara Meyberg Guzman is the CEO/Co-founder of Santa Cruz Local, a three-person newsroom that serves Santa Cruz County, Calif. She’s also a board member of the Tiny News Collective.
“I’m proud to serve the Tiny News Collective because I believe the local media industry needs to change, and the Tiny News Collective aims to make it easier for people to create newsrooms that serve and represent their communities.”
Anna Nirmala is a Vice President at the American Journalism Project (AJP). She leads portfolio development, and also directly supports a subset of the portfolio focused on growth and innovation, and what that means for becoming a sustainable business operation. Prior to AJP she worked at Hearken, a groundbreaking company that creates innovative community engagement processes that help clients leverage their networks to accelerate growth, and has more than 200 newsroom partners around the world. As Director of Business Development, Anna was responsible for leading and managing the company’s revenue growth and enterprise client management strategy. She is based in Brooklyn, New York.
Akoto Ofori-Atta is Cofounder and Executive Editor of Capital B. She was previously Managing Editor at The Trace, where she was responsible for partnerships, special projects, and editorial operations. As a founding editor, Akoto helped secure more than 170 local and national editorial partners for The Trace’s features and investigations. She’s also held the positions of Associate Editor and Social Media Manager at The Root and Senior Editor at Essence Magazine. In 2015, she completed a John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University, where she focused on issues surrounding diversity and the Black press. She was selected as a 2019–2020 Emerging Leader for the Institute of Nonprofit News.
Ashley Woods Branch is the founder of Detour Detroit, a local news startup producing niche local newsletters and serving as a collaborative digital partner to the city’s network of independent publishers. She also works with the Google News Initiative, helping build the global ecosystem of digital media startups. Branch’s work has been supported by Silicon Valley (The Information Accelerator), Harvard University (as a Visiting Nieman Fellow) and global leaders (the Marshall Memorial Transatlantic Fellowship).
“It was an honor to serve on the selection team for the Tiny News Collective. The ambition and diversity of the applications we reviewed prove a crucial need exists for programs like TNC that are making the startup journey more accessible to every potential journalism entrepreneur.”
LION Publishers, an association serving aspiring and existing independent news entrepreneurs, is developing the training, onboarding and community elements of the Tiny News Collective. News Catalyst, based at Temple University and supported by the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund, is leading product and technology.
The Tiny News Collective believes a world where everyone can participate in creating relevant, accurate and culturally conscious local news and information is one where everyone can more fully engage in civic life, make more informed decisions, and better understand the world around them.
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