About
What is Powering News?
Powering News is a project supporting non-traditional, worker-friendly newsrooms: co-ops, staff-led nonprofits, and other democratically-run newsrooms (often called worker-led or worker-run newsrooms). These innovative news organizations — where journalists are empowered with critical business decisions — are on the rise.
This resource includes a 100+ page guidebook of best practices, an overview of business models, recommendations for supporting vendors, template documents used by non-traditional newsrooms, and even a quiz to help you pick your business model.
At the heart of this project is the newsroom database, based on the first national survey of its kind. This database will elevate non-traditional, worker-friendly, newsrooms, educate our industry, and build community.
With more non-traditional, worker-friendly news startups launching than ever before, it is a critical time to identify, support, and celebrate this cohort as a growing source of sustainability — because even newsrooms struggle to be what they cannot see.
Who is This For?
Powering News is for journalists and news leaders interested in innovation of their newsrooms.
Most resources are designed for potential founders, and existing leaders, of non-traditional, worker-friendly newsrooms.
However, the hope is that leaders of any newsroom can learn from these best practices and are inspired to better center their journalists in parts of the news business that often feel immutable. The guidebook walks leaders through fresh approaches to goal setting, compensation, accountability, and conflict resolution that would help many newsrooms.
Lastly, media reporters and funders will benefit from a clearer understanding of the growing size of — and nuances in structure within — this flourishing field.
If you find Powering News helpful, please get in touch.
Hello!
Powering News was created by Tara Francis Chan with support from the 2025-2026 Reynolds Journalism Institute Fellowship.
Most recently, Tara co-founded one of the first staff-run nonprofit newsrooms, The Appeal, which inspired this project.
Thank you to Reynolds Journalism Institute, USFWC, Defector’s Shared Services Project, and the many non-traditional, worker-friendly newsrooms who donated their time to contribute to this project.
You can see more of Tara’s work on transforming newsrooms in the Care & Collaboration Toolkit and For All We Care, a practical framework for balancing care and accountability created during the Executive Program in News Leadership and Innovation at CUNY’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism.
If you’d like to speak with Tara, or book one of her workshops or trainings, please get in touch.
Thank you to the many newsrooms who contributed to this project:
