States Newsroom

What States Newsroom does

States Newsroom is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit journalism organization founded in 2018 and headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with a secondary office in Washington, D.C. It operates the largest nonprofit state-focused news network in the United States, consisting of 39 independently branded state-level news outlets (such as Alabama Reflector, Alaska Beacon, Virginia Mercury, and Pennsylvania Capital-Star) supplemented by content-sharing partnerships with 11 additional nonprofit news organizations including CalMatters, The Texas Tribune, and Mississippi Today. Reporting is aggregated and curated nationally on the News From The States platform, and the organization also operates a D.C. Bureau covering federal issues through a state-impact lens and Stateline, a cross-state policy publication acquired from The Pew Charitable Trusts in March 2023. Content is delivered through dedicated websites, a portfolio of themed email newsletters (Daybreak, Evening Wrap, The Rundown, This Week In Commentary, Reproductive Rights Today), and the Stories From The States podcast.

The organization is built on a WordPress-based digital publishing platform with a centralized NewsFromTheStates.com homepage that aggregates content from all state outlets and partners. All journalism is provided free to readers with no paywalls, popups, or advertisements, treating coverage of state government as a public good. The technology stack includes standard digital publishing tooling with Facebook and Twitter pixels for marketing analytics and PCI-compliant third-party payment processors for handling donation transactions.

States Newsroom generates revenue exclusively through philanthropy. The primary revenue stream is individual donations from more than 100,000 contributors, supplemented by institutional grants from approximately 30 foundations (including the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Park Foundation, and McKnight Foundation) and a small but growing portion of earned revenue from republication platforms. Donor growth has been strong, with individual donation revenue increasing 49% from 2023 to 2024 and 41% from 2024 to 2025. The go-to-market motion is product-led growth: the organization aims to expand its nearly 300,000 newsletter subscribers by 500,000 over three years through ad campaigns, social media strategy, and product improvements designed to convert single-story readers into recurring subscribers and donors.

Name

States Newsroom

Legal name

States Newsroom

Website

https://statesnewsroom.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

States Newsroom is the nation's largest nonprofit state-focused journalism organization, operating 39 fully funded state newsrooms plus 11 partner outlets across all 50 U.S. states, delivering free, nonpartisan reporting on state government, policy, and politics to readers and thousands of republication partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

State Government Journalism

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131), Broadcasting and Content Providers (516)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

News & Public Affairs Syndication (MPABAMAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

News, Politics & Current Affairs Magazines (MPAJAEAO)

Keywords

• Nonprofit news organization
• State government journalism
• Public policy reporting
• State capitol coverage
• Digital journalism network

Headquarters

HQ city

Chapel Hill

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: States Newsroom relies heavily on individual contributions from readers. Over 100,000 individual donations received. Donors contributing $500 or more are listed on the Supporters page. Donations are tax-deductible as the organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
2. Institutional Grants: Funding from foundations and institutional donors. In 2025, States Newsroom was awarded grant funding from 30 foundations. Unrestricted funding is prioritized with secondary goal of project-specific funding.
3. Republishing Revenue: Small but increasing amount of revenue earned from republishing platforms. The organization is exploring opportunities to grow earned revenue percentage while maintaining its free content mission.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

States Newsroom is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit news organization that produces and distributes free, nonpartisan journalism covering state government, policy, and politics across all 50 U.S. states. It operates a network of 39 state-focused news outlets, the News From The States aggregation platform, multiple themed email newsletters, a weekly podcast, a D.C. Bureau, and the Stateline cross-state publication, all funded primarily by individual donations and institutional grants.

Product overview

States Newsroom is a nonprofit news organization offering a portfolio of interconnected products and services focused on state government journalism. The core offering consists of 39 state-focused news outlets covering state capitals across the United States, supplemented by national aggregation platforms (News From The States), multiple themed newsletters (Daybreak, Evening Wrap, The Rundown, This Week In Commentary, Reproductive Rights Today), a weekly podcast (Stories From the States), the Stateline cross-state publication, and a D.C. Bureau. All content is provided free to readers with no paywalls or advertisements, funded by donations and institutional grants. The organization also runs a Capital Reporting Fellowship program for emerging journalists.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• News From The States: A clearinghouse website bringing together reporting and commentary from States Newsroom and independent nonprofit partners, featuring curated stories and highlighted trends in state government across the U.S.
• Daybreak
• Evening Wrap
• The Rundown
• This Week In Commentary
• Reproductive Rights Today
• Capital Reporting Fellowship
• D.C. Bureau
• Stateline

Products and services

• Network of 39 State Newsrooms Network of 39 independently branded state-focused news outlets, each with its own website covering state government, politics, and policy in their respective state capitals. Includes outlets such as Alabama Reflector, Alaska Beacon, Arizona Mirror, Kentucky Lantern, and others.
• News From The States

Quantifiable outcome

• 151 million page views in 2023
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability4 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered secondary, core and minor.

• MS NOWsecondaryGTM or Marketing Partner · 9 April 2026Partnership with MS NOW to elevate local reporting in Mississippi
• WHYY Philadelphia and WESA PittsburghsecondaryChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 5 May 2025Formal audio content partnerships with public radio stations. WHYY and WESA regularly distribute States Newsroom audio stories to their listeners, expanding reach of state government coverage.
• ProPublica Local Reporting NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 September 2024Tennessee Lookout selected to join ProPublica's Local Reporting Network for investigative journalism support
• ProPublica Local Reporting NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 June 2024North Dakota Monitor selected to join ProPublica's Local Reporting Network for investigative journalism support
• Pew Charitable Trusts (Stateline)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 March 2023States Newsroom acquired Stateline from Pew Charitable Trusts in 2023, merging two state policy-focused organizations. This acquisition expanded States Newsroom's national coverage and brought additional editorial expertise to the network.
• ProPublica Local Reporting NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 December 2022Source New Mexico selected as one of five newsrooms to join ProPublica's Local Reporting Network. ProPublica funds Lohmann's salary and benefits while he works on investigative journalism projects. The partnership provides dedicated resources for long-form accountability coverage.
• CalMatters, Texas Tribune, Mississippi Today, and 8 other nonprofit newsroomscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorContent-sharing agreements with 11 leading nonprofit newsrooms. Partners include CalMatters (California), Connecticut Mirror, Spotlight Delaware, Honolulu Civil Beat, Capitol News Illinois, CommonWealth Beacon (Massachusetts), Mississippi Today, New York Focus, The Texas Tribune, VTDigger (Vermont), and WyoFile (Wyoming). Content is hosted on News From The States clearinghouse.
• Report for AmericasecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerIowa Capital Dispatch and Minnesota Reformer are Report for America partners, with Report for America helping fund correspondents at these outlets
• National journalism associations for DEIJ recruitmentminorOthersAdvertises open positions with professional organizations including National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), and Native American Journalists Association (NAJA) to ensure diverse candidate pools

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• The Texas Tribune: Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan state-focused news organization that covers Texas public policy, politics, and government. It is a direct content-sharing partner of States Newsroom and operates with a similar free, donation-funded model focused on statehouse coverage.
• CalMatters: CalMatters is a California-focused nonprofit newsroom covering state government, policy, and politics. It is a content-sharing partner of States Newsroom and shares the same nonprofit, free-to-reader, donation-supported business model targeting state-level accountability journalism.
• Mississippi Today: Mississippi Today is a nonprofit statehouse-focused news organization covering Mississippi government and policy. It is a content-sharing partner within States Newsroom's network and operates a comparable nonprofit, free, donation-funded model with similar editorial mission.
• VTDigger: VTDigger is a Vermont-focused nonprofit digital news organization covering state government. It is a content-sharing partner of States Newsroom and operates with the same nonprofit, free, donation-supported business model targeting statehouse and policy reporting.
• Honolulu Civil Beat: Honolulu Civil Beat is a Hawaii-focused nonprofit news organization covering state and local government. It is a content-sharing partner of States Newsroom and shares the same nonprofit, free, donation-funded model focused on state-level civic journalism.

Broad incumbents

• ProPublica: ProPublica is the largest U.S. nonprofit investigative newsroom, focused on national accountability journalism. It is a direct strategic partner to States Newsroom through the Local Reporting Network and is comparable as a fellow major nonprofit news organization, though at a larger national scale and with deeper investigative focus.
• Center for Public Integrity: Center for Public Integrity is a national nonprofit investigative news organization focused on government accountability. It is comparable to States Newsroom as a fellow major U.S. nonprofit news organization with a donation-funded model, though focused on national rather than state-level investigations.
• Mother Jones: Mother Jones is a national nonprofit investigative and progressive news magazine. It is comparable to States Newsroom as a fellow major U.S. nonprofit news organization, though with a national/political focus rather than state government coverage and a more established brand.

Emerging players

• The Marshall Project: The Marshall Project is a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system. It is comparable to States Newsroom as a fellow topic-specific nonprofit news outlet with donation funding, but with a narrower policy focus and national scope.
• The 19th News: The 19th News is a nonprofit newsroom covering gender, politics, and policy. It is comparable to States Newsroom as a fellow nonprofit news organization with a focused policy beat and donation-supported model, though at a smaller scale and with a thematic rather than geographic scope.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/statesnewsroom

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about States Newsroom