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“E, where do you learn things learn from?”
Wonderful question. Thank you for asking (actually, no one did).
The answer is: truly it depends.
While I will peruse the top dogs in journalism (the New York Times, the Washington Post, Vox, Atlantic, Politico, AP, etc), I try to move a bit beyond those publications. I might start with these, but they are not where I end.
I have made a pledge to dive into the policy issues and communities I care about via independent journalism, solutions-based journalism, and local journalism.
Why?
Because often these stories are told with a lot more care, dignity, and for the most part, tend to be nonpartisan. They fundamentally rely on donors such as you and I, rather than, for example, being bought out by billionaires.
And local journalism is taking a hit.
So here are all the things I’m subscribed to. I hope you join me in helping to uplift these truth-tellers, who focus more on delivering information with compassion, than simply grabbing your attention with a half-true headline.
My list is ever-growing and it definitely isn’t perfect. Nor should it be. So let us continue to share with each other!
Women, Children, & Gender
The 19th: “The 19th is an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting at the intersection of gender, politics and policy.”
The Imprint: “The Imprint is an independent daily news outlet focused on the nation’s child welfare and youth justice systems. Since 2013, Imprint reporters have produced rigorous, in-depth reporting on the courts that process these children, youth and families; the agencies paid to serve them; and the housing, economic, mental health and educational issues they face.”
Rise Magazine: “Founded in 2005 and led by parents impacted by the family policing system, Rise believes that parents have the answers for their families and communities. Our mission is to support parents’ leadership to dismantle the current family policing system by eliminating cycles of harm, surveillance, and punishment and creating communities that invest in families and offer collective care, healing, and support.”
Women’s Media Center: “The Women’s Media Center is a progressive, nonpartisan nonprofit organization working to raise the visibility, viability, and decision-making power of women and girls in media and, thereby, ensuring that their stories get told and their voices are heard. To reach those necessary goals, we strategically use an array of interconnected channels and platforms to transform not only the media landscape but also a culture in which women’s and girls’ voices, stories, experiences, and images are neither sufficiently amplified nor placed on par with the voices, stories, experiences, and images of men and boys.”
Social Policy
The Marshall Project: “The Marshall Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that seeks to create and sustain a sense of national urgency about the U.S. criminal justice system. We have an impact on the system through journalism, rendering it more fair, effective, transparent and humane.”
MLK50 Justice through Journalism: “MLK50: Justice Through Journalism is a different kind of newsroom. Our nonprofit news outlet in Memphis focuses on the intersection of poverty, power and policy. We examine the systems that make it hard for workers to make ends meet and interrogate those who profit from the status quo.”
Type Investigations: “Type Investigations is a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to transforming the field of independent investigative journalism. We produce high-impact reporting that amplifies new voices and offers reporters unparalleled opportunities to take risks, break news, and effect change. Type Investigations covers the most urgent issues of our time, including racial and economic justice, climate and environmental health, and civil and human rights.”
Prism: “At Prism, we believe justice requires the full story.When Prism was established in 2019, it was because we knew that the status quo media landscape wasn’t reflecting enough of the truth—and it wasn’t bringing us closer to our vision of collective liberation and justice. We saw a different path forward, one that we could forge by disrupting and dismantling toxic narratives, uncovering the hard truths of injustice alongside the people experiencing the acute impacts of injustice, and providing a platform for people of color to tell their own stories, and those of their communities.”
What’s Next Magazine: “Solutions journalism stories about alternatives to policing. After years of movement towards changing our criminal justice system, what are people doing right now? This website investigates that with two stories a month from writers all over the country.”
The Conversation: “The Conversation is a nonprofit, independent news organization dedicated to unlocking the knowledge of experts for the public good. We publish trustworthy and informative articles written by academic experts for the general public and edited by our team of journalists.”
The Trace: “At The Trace, we’re building the only team of journalists exclusively dedicated to reporting on our country’s gun violence crisis. We use the power of journalism to improve public understanding, increase accountability, and identify solutions that can lead to safer homes and communities for all Americans.”
ProPublica: “ProPublica is an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism with moral force. We dig deep into important issues, shining a light on abuses of power and betrayals of public trust — and we stick with those issues as long as it takes to hold power to account.”
Capital B: “Capital B combines national investigative reporting, local civic journalism, and community engagement to deliver the news and information Black people need right now. Starting in January 2022, Capital B’s national journalists will report on the most pressing issues facing Black Americans across the country.”
Reveal: “At Reveal, we pour the necessary time and resources into unearthing original stories that hold people and institutions accountable for the problems they’ve caused or benefited from. Our investigative reporting consistently contributes to real-world impact, from civil and criminal investigations to new laws and policies, better-informed conversations and community-driven solutions.”
The Forge: “The mission of The Forge is to elevate the strategy and practice of organizing through the sharing of ideas, methods, history, and inspiration, and by building connection and community among organizers and between sectors of the progressive movement.”
The California Sunday: “The California Sunday Magazine was a long-form Sunday magazine featuring stories about the Western United States, Latin America, and Asia. In June 2021 it won a Pulitzer Prize, eight months after the magazine ceased publication.”
National Public Housing Museum Newsletter: “The National Public Housing Museum is the only cultural institution devoted to telling the story of public housing in the United States. Its mission is to preserve, promote, and propel the right of all people to a place where they can live and prosper — a place to call home.”
Inquest: “Inquest is a forum for advancing bold ideas to end mass incarceration in the United States. Here, you will find original, insightful work by thinkers and doers across a broad range of experience and expertise, united in the belief that mass incarceration is an epic injustice that can and must urgently end.”
Vital City: “ Vital City is committed to the idea that our social fabric is our safety. We believe that safety is rooted in thriving civic life—decent schools, housing and jobs, active and inviting public spaces, prospering local businesses and vibrant local culture. Through a policy journal, special reports, data analysis and more, Vital City seeks to offer actionable strategies to build a thriving city. Our work is motivated by our love for New York City, our belief in the power of evidence and our optimism about the future of cities. Vital City is currently in residence at Columbia Law School.”
International Policy & Development
The New Humanitarian: “The New Humanitarian is an independent, non-profit news agency focusing on humanitarian stories in regions that are often forgotten, under-reported, misunderstood or ignored. Prior to 1 January 2015, IRIN News was a project of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.”
African Women in Media: “African Women in the Media (AWiM) aims to contribute to the creation of enabling environments for African women who work in media industries, and to change the way African women are represented in media content. It does this through research, advocacy and partnerships that impact positively the way media functions in relation to African women. Through AWiM events we create opportunities for knowledge exchange, building networks, and economic empowerment of women in media.”
NPR Goats and Soda: “Goats and Soda is NPR's global health and development blog. We tell stories of life in our changing world, focusing on low- and middle-income countries. And we keep in mind that we're all neighbors in this global village.”
Population Works Africa: “We support innovative African-led development solutions that are locally rooted. We implement strategies to better craft, resource, execute, and monitor sustainable development interventions that address all levels of human need.”
Glimpse from the Globe: “Glimpse from the Globe is an online student-run publication dedicated to providing timely and timeless analysis of international affairs. Established in 2013, founding Glimpse leadership identified the need to more prominently feature sophisticated and culturally engaging foreign affairs content produced by students at the University of Southern California. We strive to publish content that reflects the diversity of our publication’s contributing authors, while highlighting the pressing global challenges of our time. Beyond our news stories, all the work featured on Glimpse from the Globe provides an added level of analytical depth that challenges us to think critically.”
Dignity: “Dignity: An Undergraduate Human Rights Journal endeavors to showcase a broad spectrum of human rights scholarship by undergraduate students in the University of North Carolina System. Dignity fosters awareness of international and domestic human rights by publishing an annual academic journal containing high-quality, undergraduate human rights research from across the disciplines.
Dignity Online provides a platform for sharing academic and creative human rights content in a variety of formats including photography, poetry, book reviews, and much more. This site offers easy access to Dignity’s academic journal and displays the imaginative ways in which students explore the human rights field.
Dignity Print is housed at UNC Asheville and invites the active participation of students and faculty across the UNC system as reviewers, editors, and contributors to meaningfully highlight and discuss key human rights concerns.”
Rest of World: “Rest of World is an international nonprofit journalism organization. We document what happens when technology, culture and the human experience collide, in places that are typically overlooked and underestimated. We believe the story about technology is as big as the world that’s using it, and that everyone — from those building technology to those using it — can benefit from a broader global perspective.”
Project Syndicate: “Project Syndicate produces and delivers original, high-quality commentaries to a global audience. Featuring exclusive contributions by prominent political leaders, policymakers, scholars, business leaders, and civic activists from around the world, we provide news media and their readers with cutting-edge analysis and insight, regardless of ability to pay. Our membership includes over 600 media outlets – more than half of which receive our commentaries for free or at subsidized rates – in 156 countries.”
Health & Science
Undark: “We illuminate the complicated and fractious places where science collides with politics, economics, and culture, and where differing world views compete for resources and influence.”
Grist: “Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Our goal is to use the power of storytelling to illuminate the way toward a better world, inspire millions of people to walk that path with us, and show that the time for action is now.”
Inside Climate News: “Founded in 2007, Inside Climate News is a Pulitzer Prize-winning, nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that provides essential reporting and analysis on climate change, energy and the environment, for the public and for decision-makers. We serve as watchdogs of government, industry and advocacy groups and hold them accountable for their policies and actions.”
Local to Me May Not Be Local to You
North Carolina
Citizens Times: The Asheville Citizen-Times is an American, English language daily newspaper of Asheville, North Carolina. It was formed in 1991 as a result of a merger of the morning Asheville Citizen and the afternoon Asheville Times.
The Blue Banner: “The Student Voice of UNC Asheville”
The Charlotte Observer: “The Charlotte Observer is an American English language newspaper serving Charlotte, North Carolina and its metro area. The Observer was founded in 1886. As of 2020, it has the second-largest circulation of any newspaper in the Carolinas.”
News & Observer: “The News & Observer is an American regional daily newspaper that serves the greater Triangle area based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The paper is the largest in circulation in the state.”
Southerly: “an independent, non-profit 501(c)3 media organization that serves communities in the U.S. South who face environmental injustice and are most at-risk of the effects of climate change. We do this by equipping them with the journalism, resources, and information they need to make their communities healthier and safer, to hold power to account, and to have agency over their future.”
100 Days in Appalachia: “Appalachia Matters. Our story is complex and deserves to be heard. We write the true stories of Appalachia. We believe the story of Appalachia reflects the story of our country. We’re here to amplify the region’s diverse voices, celebrate our successes, investigate our failures and empower our communities. We are unapologetic and steadfast in our mission. The national media has failed Appalachia. They have exploited our struggles, dividing our nation. We are more alike than different. And there is a hopeful story about Appalachia that’s not being told. We live here. Our team lives and works in the heart of Central Appalachia spread throughout the 13 states that make up the region. By being able to talk to people face to face, we get the story right. We don’t compete– we collaborate. We work with other news organizations to report stories and we elevate the great work of others. What’s best for the region is more than what we can do alone. Because after all, we’re all in this together.”
The Daily Yonder: “The Daily Yonder provides news, commentary, and analysis about and for rural America.”
Scalawag: “Through journalism and storytelling, Scalawag works in solidarity with oppressed communities in the South to disrupt and shift the narratives that keep power and wealth in the hands of the few. Collectively, we pursue a more liberated South.”
Michigan
Michigan Advance: “The Michigan Advance is a hard-hitting, nonprofit news site covering politics and policy across the state. We feature in-depth stories, briefs and social media updates, as well as top-notch progressive commentary. The Advance is free of advertising and free to our readers. We wholeheartedly believe that journalists have the biggest impact by reporting close to home, explaining what’s happening in our state and communities — and why. Michigan has hundreds fewer reporters than just a couple decades ago. The result is too many stories falling through the cracks.”
The Michigan Daily: “The Michigan Daily exists to inform the University of Michigan and the Ann Arbor communities about events and issues of consequence to the University and Washtenaw County. We will maintain an entirely independent, student-run newspaper because we believe a voice separate from the University ensures our ability to hold the administration accountable and protect our coverage from outside interests.”
Outlier Media: “Outlier Media is a Detroit-based service journalism organization. We identify, report, and deliver valuable information to empower residents to hold landlords, municipal government and elected officials accountable for longstanding problems. By keeping residents first, we hope to give more than we take and leave people with the information they need to create change in their own communities.”
Detroit Documentors: “The Documenters Network was created in 2018 by City Bureau, a nonprofit civic journalism lab that goes beyond informing the public. We focus on equipping people to access and produce the information they need. We make our work, process and tools as open and useful as possible. Documenters.org centralizes public meeting dates, times, locations, official records and original documentation at the city, county, and state-level in one searchable location.”
Bridge Michigan: “Bridge Michigan is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that provides passionate and rooted Michigan readers with honest, fact-driven journalism on the state’s diverse people, politics, and economy. We serve as your watchdog on the biggest issues impacting your daily life, giving you insightful coverage you can’t get anywhere else.”
Bridge Detroit: “BridgeDetroit is a nonprofit community news, information and engagement media service in America’s largest majority African American city. All of BridgeDetroit’s content is anchored in an ongoing effort to engage Detroiters and identify the issues THEY see as crucial to their lives and to their understanding of the city’s civic life. BridgeDetroit is produced by, and for Detroiters, and its goal is to fill a growing deficit of vital information and engagement in the city’s news ecosystem.”
Food
The Counter: “The Counter is a nonprofit, independent, nonpartisan newsroom investigating the forces shaping how and what America eats.”
Civil Eats: “Civil Eats is a daily news source for critical thought about the American food system. We publish stories that shift the conversation around sustainable agriculture in an effort to build economically and socially just communities.”
Alicia Kennedy: “This newsletter is about food and its constellation of concerns, from politics and labor and hospitality and sourcing and everything else. On Monday, I send out an essay, along with notes on what I’ve published, read, and cooked. On Fridays, paid subscribers also receive interviews with people in food. Once per month, paid subscribers also get the “From the Kitchen” dispatch, with recipes and recommendations for a better cooking life.”
A Growing Culture: “We know that farmers should be at the forefront of agriculture, and we work hard to protect their natural right to define and shape their own food system. We do this by reframing the way the world views farmers, facilitating collective learning and catalyzing innovation through farmer-to-farmer exchange, and supporting on-the-ground efforts for farmer-led research and documentation.”
Offshoot: “A bi-weekly newsletter by A Growing Culture to grapple with the unanswered questions about the future of food.”
The Preserve Journal: “The Preserve Journal is an independent print magazine dedicated to the exploration of a more sustainable, resilient, and responsible food culture. With it we wish to invite our readers to look beyond the bite of food on their fork, and to see the whole picture of their meal and their role in it.”
Culture and People and Ideas and Politics
Aeon: “Aeon is a magazine of ideas and culture. We publish in-depth essays, incisive articles, and a mix of original and curated videos — free to all.”
The Marginalian (formerly Brain Pickings): The Marginalian (which bore the unbearable name for its first 15 years) is my one-woman labor of love, exploring what it means to live a decent, inspired, substantive life of purpose and gladness. Founded in 2006 as a weekly email to seven friends, eventually brought online and now included in the Library of Congress permanent web archive, it is a record of my own becoming as a person — intellectually, creatively, spiritually, poetically — drawn from my extended marginalia on the search for meaning across literature, science, art, philosophy, and the various other tendrils of human thought and feeling.”
The On Being Project: “The On Being Project is a nonprofit media and public life initiative. We explore the intersection of spiritual inquiry, science, social healing, and the arts.”
International Documentary Association: “We are dedicated to the vision of a world where documentary creators flourish. Through our work, we connect audiences with the best of the form, provide resources, create community, and defend the rights and freedoms of documentary artists, activists and journalists around the globe. We do this work because we believe that documentaries enrich and deepen our culture, fostering a more informed and connected world.”
Film Comment Magazine: “Since 1962, Film Comment has been the home of independent film journalism, publishing in-depth interviews, critical analysis, and feature coverage of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world.”
Deep Shtetl, by Yair Rosenberg (The Atlantic): “A curious person’s guide to the stories behind the stories, demystifying the potent but often misunderstood forces that shape our world, from religious faith to social-media technology to popular culture.”
Humans Being, by Jordan Calhoun (The Atlantic): “Humans Being searches for lessons in the most popular movies, books, TV shows, and more. Whatever you’re reading or streaming, this newsletter wants to be your companion to help understand the story and decide what to play next.”
Unsettled Territory, by Imani Perry (The Atlantic): “Unsettled Territory is a journey through culture, law, history, literature, and politics. Making time for digression, diversion, subversion, and surprise, this voracious, impassioned, and eclectic intellectual is doing what she calls American rootwork: deep diving in order to find meaning in both the extraordinary and the mundane.”
The Believer: “The Believer, a twelve-time National Magazine Award finalist, is a literature, arts, and culture magazine published by the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute, and based in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. In each issue, readers will find journalism, essays, intimate interviews, an expansive comics section, poetry, timely and untimely reviews, and on occasion, delightful and unexpected bonus items. The magazine is edited by a group of novelists, poets, artists, critics, regular readers of the Chicago Manual of Style, and aficionados of print and digital literature. Our regular columnists are Nick Hornby and Peter Orner. All editions of The Believer are perfect-bound and printed by friendly Canadians on recycled, acid-free, heavy-stock paper and suitable for archiving, framing, or reading in the tub. We publish five issues a year, including one double issue.”
Pipe Wrench: “a nonprofit reader-supported quarterly magazine. Each issue features one great long-form piece surrounded by a constellation of reactions, digressions, asides, and ephemera. It’s the unforgettable story, the excited conversation about it, and the 3AM internet rabbit hole all rolled into one.”
The Drift: “The Drift aims to introduce new work and new ideas by young writers who haven’t yet been absorbed into the media hivemind and don’t feel hemmed in by the boundaries of the existing discourse.”
Reason: “Founded in 1968, Reason is the nation's leading libertarian magazine. We produce hard-hitting independent journalism on civil liberties, politics, technology, culture, policy, and commerce. As the magazine of free minds and free markets, Reason exists outside of the left/right echo chamber. Our goal is to deliver fresh, unbiased information and insights to our readers, viewers, and listeners every day.”
Dissent: “Dissent is a quarterly magazine of politics and ideas. Founded by Irving Howe and Lewis Coser in 1954, it quickly established itself as one of America’s leading intellectual journals and a mainstay of the democratic left. Dissent is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. We publish the very best in political argument, and take pride in cultivating the next generation of labor journalists, cultural critics, and political polemicists.”
Harper’s Magazine: “Harper’s Magazine, the oldest general-interest monthly in America, explores the issues that drive our national conversation, through long-form narrative journalism and essays, and such celebrated features as the iconic Harper’s Index. With its emphasis on fine writing and original thought Harper’s provides readers with a unique perspective on politics, society, the environment, and culture. The essays, fiction, and reporting in the magazine’s pages come from promising new voices, as well as some of the most distinguished names in American letters, among them Annie Dillard, Barbara Ehrenreich, Jonathan Franzen, Mary Gaitskill, David Foster Wallace, and Tom Wolfe.”
Project on Government Oversight (POGO): “The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is a nonpartisan independent watchdog that investigates and exposes waste, corruption, abuse of power, and when the government fails to serve the public or silences those who report wrongdoing. We champion reforms to achieve a more effective, ethical, and accountable federal government that safeguards constitutional principles.”
Bolts: “Bolts is a digital magazine that covers the nuts and bolts of power and political change, from the local up. We report on the places, people, and politics that shape public policy but are dangerously overlooked. We tell stories that highlight the real world stakes of local elections, obscure institutions, and the grassroots movements that are targeting them. We focus on two areas where local governments play a key role: criminal justice and voting rights. When it comes to practices that balloon prisons or weaken democracy, decisions are often made by an opaque ecosystem of institutions and officials. Our journalism shines a spotlight on the levers of power that influence democracy and mass incarceration—think of your local judges, county clerks, or prosecutors—and the political battles around them. We will later add other issue hubs (stay tuned).”
The Examined Life: “The Examined Life is a space for curious minds and emotional souls. It’s a quiet bench where the hurried and worn can connect with the vast human continuum. The Examined Life is a collection of wisdom and things universal. The things we have in common. It’s about stepping into the continuum and feeling connected.”
Misc.
Literary Hub: “Literary Hub is an organizing principle in the service of literary culture, a single, trusted, daily source for all the news, ideas and richness of contemporary literary life. There is more great literary content online than ever before, but it is scattered, easily lost—with the help of its editorial partners, Lit Hub is a site readers can rely on for smart, engaged, entertaining writing about all things books.”
cover image by https://unsplash.com/@alesnesetril