About News Voices

People have a huge stake in the future of journalism, but aren’t usually part of discussions shaping how communities get news and information to serve their needs. News Voices aims to change that: We seek to build power with communities so residents have a stronger voice in how local journalism can be revived, strengthened and transformed.

Launched in New Jersey in 2015, News Voices expanded to North Carolina in 2017, Philadelphia in 2019 and Colorado in 2020. We’re now working with dedicated newsrooms and community members around the country. Our New Jersey project has received awards for its collaborative and innovative approach.

We’ve held dozens of public forums that brought together community members and journalists, launched creative community-led journalism collaborations, partnered with newsrooms to work more closely with their audiences, run workshops to train reporters on how to use organizing strategies in their newsgathering, developed resources for the public to amplify news coverage of untold stories, and campaigned for legislation to invest in innovative news and information projects.

We believe in:

• Centering racial equity in our work and striving to create a stronger and more inclusive news-and-information ecosystem that prioritizes racial, gender and economic justice.

• Elevating the voices of local residents, especially those of people of color and other communities that the media have misrepresented or maligned.

• Honoring and uplifting people who are dedicated to strengthening their communities.

• Shifting away from the kind of reporting that dehumanizes people and promotes transactional relationships to media rooted in community that prioritizes deep listening and collaboration.

• Creating journalism that supports community-driven solutions to ensure stories originating from and about communities help them grow and develop.

We believe the future of journalism and the future of democracy are intertwined, and this is a critical moment to build bridges between journalism and civic life. Healthy communities need quality local news, and people active in civic life need timely, credible, factual information on which to base their actions and work together toward common solutions.

The News Voices project is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Democracy Fund, Democracy Fund Voice, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Community Foundation of New Jersey, the Foundation for the Carolinas, the Lenfest Institute for Journalism and many others that provide general support for our work, including thousands of committed individuals like you.