As we approach our tenth anniversary in Nov., the PRT is very pleased to announce that we have been accepted as members of the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN). We now join more than 200 other nonprofit news sources, including such media notables as Mother Jones, the Tucson Sentinel, the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting, High Country News and NPR. I was pretty excited to find the Patagonia Regional Times listed next to the PBS News Hour in the INN member directory.
The lengthy application process to join INN fueled some healthy debate among staff and board about policies, fundraising, transparency and other issues that we had not dealt with explicitly in the past, giving us a push to become a more professional organization.
But aside from refining our policies and practices, what do we hope to gain by becoming a
part of INN? INN’s stated mission is “To provide education and business support services to our nonprofit member organizations and promote the value and benefits of public service and investigative journalism.” INN provides technology training, revenue generation, including fundraising and grant training, editorial collaboration, discounts on insurance, legal advice, public relations and marketing help and information resources.
We are already moving forward to launch a matching grant program, called Newsmatch, through INN. In our next issue we will share more information with our readers about this exciting opportunity.
INN has seen a huge growth in membership since its founding in 2009 when 27 nonprofits
came together to form the organization that “laid a foundation of collaboration among a new collective of nonprofit newsrooms dedicated to serving the public interest.” This growth mirrors the increasing numbers of nonprofit news sources in the U.S. at a time when for-profit journalism is suffering from cutbacks and reduced revenue.
“Nonprofit journalism is securing its place and helping create a new ecosystem for news while serving a critical role in American civic life,” INN reported in 2018.
Nonprofit journalism is often described as mission driven, and that is certainly the case for the PRT. Our mission to provide objective, nonpartisan, local news to the communities of Patagonia, Elgin, Sonoita and Canelo is always foremost in our minds as we select the stories to bring you each month.
As there are always more stories than we have room for, we are forced to make difficult decisions, but we try our best to provide you with timely news and features that represent all the different interests of our readers.
Please let us know how we are doing and what stories you would like us to cover. And don’t
forget to check our website and facebook for breaking news.
We thank you for your attention and for your support and look forward to our second decade of providing you with relevant and interesting homegrown news.