Behind-the-scenes services support nonprofit newsrooms

A lot has to happen behind the scenes in newsrooms to support the crucial work of journalism. Running a newsroom, whether a startup or a global news outlet, requires time-consuming legwork, research, vetting and negotiating with vendors to establish everything from employee salaries and benefits to training.

INN members don’t have to handle it all alone.

Producing service journalism requires balancing editorial and operational needs — the revenue and the journalism. That can be a challenge for many newsrooms INN serves, which typically have about four employees.

A key benefit for news outlets that join INN is access to shared services that help them take care of their employees and get support for operational needs such as fundraising. INN staff meticulously vet vendors to identify tools and services news outlets need while also negotiating favorable terms and pricing. News organizations also get access to each other to collaborate on editorial projects or to share best practices. Additional tools such as journalist training and data privacy resources empower nonprofit newsrooms to more efficiently and effectively achieve their business objectives.

Services that help news organizations serve their employees include:

• Discounted employee benefits: Justworks, a professional employer organization, provides cost-effective solutions for even small organizations to offer high-quality benefits such as group health insurance. INN members pay a maximum monthly rate of $89 per employee or an annual rate that equates to $76 a month per employee. The first two months are free.
• Affordable employee training: INN is partnering with Press Pass to offer a solution for newsrooms that may have trouble recruiting experienced journalists. Through an online, self-guided training course, non-traditional journalists can gain necessary skills such as interviewing technique and Associated Press style — at a steeply discounted one-time rate of $50 per newsroom, which covers an unlimited number of staff for a year.
• Data for competitive pay: INNs Member Compensation Study includes vital data on salaries and benefits across the INN Network. This information is valuable both internally with boards and with funders to advocate for fair wages. We’re preparing to launch our 2024 survey in the next few weeks. The data is free to INN members who participate in the compensation study and the INN Index, and it is available for a fee to others.
• Human resources consulting: Many INN members tell us they need on-call HR support, so we worked with Ignite HR to launch the Ignite HR Hotline in 2023. This service is tailored to small- to medium-sized businesses and includes strategic HR planning, complaint investigations, payroll management, and other services. INN members have exclusive pricing, which includes a 50% discount.
• Data privacy support: Journalists are vulnerable to doxxing and other forms of abuse because of the nature of their work. DeleteMe and INN, with the support of Microsoft, worked together to offer a limited number of free licenses. For newsrooms that do not qualify for free licenses, INN members have access to exclusive pricing.
• Financial management resources: To ease the financial burden of hiring a full-time accountant, bookkeeper, controller or chief financial officer, INN has worked out a deal with Your Part-Time Controller to offer their services at a discounted rate of $195 per hour. YPTC services include financial reporting, data visualization, budgeting, board training, general accounting and a lot more.

For the full suite of services offered to INN members, see INN’s Resources database.