The Solution
News and information are the lifeblood of communities and they needlessly suffer without it. Where private investment cannot sustain effective local news ecosystems, communities can create their own by joining the Community Information Cooperative.
CiC has developed a model called the community information district (CiD) or info district. Info districts are special service districts that are established specifically to serve the local news and information needs of the communities that create and fund them.
Info districts are established democratically — via ordinance or referendum — and funded by fees assessed on residents and business owners in that community. They mimic other special districts that provide basic public services, including water, sanitation, or business improvement districts.
A community information district is managed by a nonprofit organization that is established alongside the info district to oversee it. The nonprofit’s board consists of community information stakeholders. A board will most likely consist of a combination of local journalists, educators, librarians, residents, business owners, civic technologists, and a minimal amount of local government appointees.
The board’s function is to oversee and approve the funding of local news and information projects that meet predetermined guidelines. Those guidelines, along with other necessary tools and resources, are determined by community journalism leaders in partnership with the Community Information Cooperative.
CiC staff provide services and guidance to individual info districts in exchange for a small membership fee. Membership in the cooperative affords each info district a seat on CiC’s board of directors, which oversees the growth and mission of the whole organization.
