What Public Narrative does

Public Narrative is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1989 in Chicago (originally as Community Media Workshop, rebranded around 2020) with a mission to increase trust between the public and the media. The organization operates a portfolio of programs targeting community and ethnic media outlets, nonprofit organizations, journalists, and community-engaged health researchers across the Chicago metropolitan area and greater Illinois. Its core products include the Chicago Media Guide subscription database (Free, $49/month, and $299/year tiers), the annual Studs Terkel Community Media Awards (30th edition in May 2025; 31st scheduled for May 14, 2026), the Reflections newsletter, the Our Stories Our World podcast produced with A Picture's Worth, and storytelling training workshops.

The organization stewards the Chicago Independent Media Alliance (CIMA), a collective of 23 charter member newsrooms and media organizations committed to community-centered reporting, and coordinates editorial collaboration through the Alliance Matters campaign funded in part by the Field Foundation. Public Narrative also co-leads the Chicago Community, Media & Research Partnership with Northwestern University's Alliance for Research in Chicagoland Communities (ARCC), funded by a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Engagement Award, producing frameworks for sharing health research through community media. The organization went remote in 2020 after 27 years at Columbia College Chicago and is currently headquartered at 1245 S. Michigan Avenue Suite 121, Chicago, IL.

Revenue mechanics are characteristic of a mid-sized community foundation: tax-deductible donations, foundation grants (Field Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, Chicago Community Trust, Press Forward Chicago), government and institutional grants (PCORI, Illinois Department of Human Services), and recurring subscription fees from the Chicago Media Guide. Programs and training are delivered free to community media and nonprofit participants. Leadership includes President and Executive Director Jhmira Alexander (recognized as a 2025 Leader for a New Chicago) and Vice President of Journalism and Media Engagement Sylvia Ewing, who joined in February 2025.

Name

Public Narrative

Legal name

Public Narrative

Website

https://publicnarrative.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Public Narrative is a Chicago-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1989 that supports community and ethnic media outlets, journalists, and nonprofits through training, the Chicago Media Guide database, annual Studs Terkel Community Media Awards, and stewardship of the 23-member Chicago Independent Media Alliance.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Community Journalism Support

NAICS

Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Media Arts & Film/Photography Nonprofits (BPAGAHAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Nonprofit & Cause Communications (BPAFADAK), Community, Ethnic & Multilingual News Publishers (MPAJADAG)

Keywords

• Community journalism training
• Narrative change programs
• Media engagement workshops
• Independent media alliance
• Storytelling education

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: Public Narrative operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN 36-3759714) relying on donations from individuals and supporters. Donations are tax-deductible.
2. Foundation Grants: Grants from foundations including Field Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, Chicago Community Trust, and Press Forward Chicago support operational programs and initiatives.
3. Chicago Media Guide Subscriptions: The Chicago Media Guide database offers subscription tiers: Free ($0), Monthly ($49/month), and Annual ($299/year). Provides access to Chicago-area media contacts for PR and communications purposes.
4. Government and Institutional Grants: Funding from Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) for the Chicago Community, Media & Research Partnership, and Illinois Department of Human Services Healing Illinois initiative.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Public Narrative delivers storytelling training, media engagement workshops, and narrative change programs to community and ethnic media outlets and nonprofit organizations across Chicago and greater Illinois. It stewards the Chicago Independent Media Alliance (CIMA) of 23 community newsrooms, produces the annual Studs Terkel Community Media Awards, operates the Chicago Media Guide subscription database for media contacts, and disseminates content through the Reflections newsletter and Our Stories Our World podcast.

Product overview

Public Narrative is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that has been elevating community voices in journalism since 1989, operating as a unified platform for narrative change and community journalism support. The organization's product portfolio centers on the Chicago Media Guide subscription database, the annual Studs Terkel Community Media Awards program, the Reflections newsletter, the Our Stories Our World podcast, professional training programs, and its stewardship of the Chicago Independent Media Alliance (CIMA). Through Alliance Matters, it coordinates editorial collaborations among CIMA member newsrooms to strengthen local journalism across Chicago.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Chicago Media Guide A subscription-based database of Chicago-area media contacts and journalists that allows users to search, filter, and export outlet information for PR and media relations purposes. Offered in Free, $49/month, and $299/year tiers.
• Studs Terkel Community Media Awards Annual awards program honoring outstanding journalists, storytellers, and media makers who exemplify the spirit of community journalism. Includes the Studs Terkel Award, Uplifting Voices Award, Ripple Effect Award, People's Choice Award, and Dr. Timuel D. Black Jr. Award for Civic Engagement.
• Training Programs Communications and storytelling training workshops for community organizations, nonprofits, and journalists, covering narrative change methodology and media engagement strategies.
• Chicago Independent Media Alliance (CIMA) A collective of 23 Chicago-based newsrooms, media outlets, and organizations committed to credible, community-centered reporting, stewarded by Public Narrative with infrastructure support, Alliance Matters editorial collaboration, and revenue-generation opportunities.
• Alliance Matters Editorial collaboration and talent development campaign among CIMA member newsrooms, focused on serving their audiences and supported through foundation funding.
• Our Stories, Our World Podcast Youth-driven podcast series produced in partnership with A Picture's Worth, featuring stories from Chicagoans about public health, public safety, and public education.
• Reflections Newsletter Official monthly newsletter of Public Narrative providing news, resources, events, and updates for the narrative change ecosystem, featuring content for journalists, nonprofits, and community organizations.

Quantifiable outcome

• CIMA Retreat fostered collaboration, shared resources, and strategies for enhancing sustainability and impact of independent media in Chicago
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Chicago Consortium for Community Engagement (C3)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Co-presented the March 2022 workshop 'Intro to Community Media for Chicago Health Researchers' with Public Narrative and ARCC.
• Obama Foundation's My Brother's Keeper Alliance (MBK Chicago)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Partnered to assess narratives of Black young men and boys in the news, leading to the 'The Story of Us' report published in 2021. Conducted listening sessions with BIPOC leaders, journalists, and media makers.
• National Association of Black Journalists Chicago ChaptercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Partnered with NABJ Chicago chapter for the 'The Story of Us' report on narratives of Black young men and boys in media. Conducted collaborative conversations among BIPOC leaders and journalists.
• Alliance for Research in Chicagoland Communities (ARCC) at Northwestern UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2019Co-led the Chicago Community, Media & Research Partnership, a nine-member task force exploring how community media can effectively share health research with communities experiencing health disparities. Created a framework for making research accessible through community media.
• Chicago Independent Media Alliance (CIMA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Public Narrative is the steward of CIMA, a collective of Chicago-based newsrooms, media outlets, and organizations committed to credible, community-centered reporting. CIMA has 23 charter member organizations. PN provides infrastructure support, editorial collaboration through Alliance Matters campaigns, and revenue generation opportunities for members.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• City Bureau: Chicago-based civic journalism nonprofit that runs fellowship and training programs and produces community-centered reporting. Closest direct peer given shared Chicago geography, nonprofit structure, and journalism training/community narrative mission.
• Report for America: National nonprofit that places journalists in local newsrooms to address coverage gaps. Comparable as a nonprofit capacity-builder that strengthens community news infrastructure through placement, training, and editorial support.
• Solutions Journalism Network: Nonprofit that trains and supports journalists in rigorous reporting on responses to social problems. Highly comparable training and capacity-building model for community journalism, with shared funder base (Knight, MacArthur).
• The News Literacy Project: National nonprofit that equips educators and students with news literacy skills. Comparable as a media education nonprofit with school and community training programs targeting trust in news and information.
• Muck Rack: PR and media intelligence platform offering a journalist and media outlet database with subscription tiers. Directly comparable to the Chicago Media Guide subscription product, though at national scale and backed by private equity.
• GroundTruth Project: Nonprofit supporting early-career journalists and local newsrooms through fellowships and reporting grants. Comparable nonprofit training-and-placement model and shared focus on community-centered reporting capacity.

Broad incumbents

• Free Press: National media advocacy nonprofit working on media policy, local news, and racial equity in journalism. Comparable mission around media trust, narrative change, and local news sustainability, but operates at much larger national policy-advocacy scale.
• Press Forward: National coalition of funders and donors investing in local news. Directly comparable through its Chicago chapter (Press Forward Chicago), which has distributed $3M+ to local newsrooms and whose advisory committee includes Public Narrative leadership.
• Internews: International nonprofit supporting independent media and information access globally. Comparable nonprofit mission of strengthening media ecosystems, though operates internationally with a much larger staff and budget.

Emerging players

• Hearken: Community engagement platform that helps newsrooms source story ideas and build audience relationships. Comparable technology-mediated approach to connecting community voices with newsrooms, though delivered as SaaS rather than as a nonprofit.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/publicnarrative
• Facebookfacebook.com/publicnarrative
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/public-narrative
• Instagraminstagram.com/publicnarrative

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

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 Public Narrative