Closing Gaps in Community Information

Oregon News Exploration’s early fundraising and research led the American Journalism Project to support development of a new nonprofit, soon to be branded, to build a network of community news services that can nimbly meet the myriad needs of distinct communities across Oregon. The new initiative will operate small teams dedicated to each community, offer specialized reporting in key areas and rally philanthropic support to meet Oregonians’ basic information needs. This approach ensures that the news organization provides vital supplemental coverage to the existing local media ecosystem, while also partnering with local media to enhance the work of outlets currently providing information to Oregon’s BIPOC, rural and linguistically distinct communities. Each team will recruit and train reporters from within their communities who will then offer news and information in each community’s preferred language and preferred media platforms.

Beyond traditional reporting and recruitment of new reporters from within communities, this news organization will elevate voices and perspectives in innovative ways, featuring community and beat reporting from the perspective of underserved communities as well as responding to misinformation. It also plans to launch a community reporting model that trains and pays Oregonians to help with public meetings coverage and distribution, joining the award-winning and rapidly growing national Documenters Network.

Stories produced by this new nonprofit newsroom will be accessible for free and in multiple formats. The initiative will further support local news ecosystems by creating partnerships to share our work, including fact-checked public meeting reports, and by providing expertise in misinformation disruption.

Oregon News Exploration will launch its programs in early 2025, building on growing interest from regional philanthropies and news organizations to join a broad coalition to revitalize local information that strengthens our democracy, supports community cohesion and fosters civic engagement.

Want to learn more about our research and plans?
We are happy to schedule an overview of our findings and discuss their implications.
Please contact to learn more.

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