Stateline

What Stateline does

Stateline is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that provides daily reporting and analysis on state-level policy across the United States, covering six primary verticals: health care, democracy, economy, environment, social issues, and criminal justice. Founded under States Newsroom in 2023 after transitioning from The Pew Charitable Trusts, Stateline operates as a specialized national-policy digest within the States Newsroom network — the nation's largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, which fields more than 220 full-time journalists across all 50 state capitals and the District of Columbia. The organization does not operate a technology product; its core offering is editorial content delivered via its website (stateline.org), a free weekly email newsletter ("Stateline Weekly"), and periodic virtual policy briefings, with stories made available for republication under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.

Stateline's business model is donation- and grant-driven. All content is provided free of charge to readers, with no advertising, pop-ups, or paywalls. Revenue streams consist of individual donations from readers/supporters and institutional grants; Stateline explicitly does not accept corporate underwriting, foreign-government contributions, or anonymous donations. Distribution occurs directly through the website and newsletter, and indirectly through Creative Commons–licensed republication by other digital, print, and broadcast outlets. The primary customer segment is the general public and policy watchers seeking nonpartisan state-level coverage; a secondary "customer" of sorts is media outlets that republish Stateline content under the open license. Co-hosted policy events (e.g., the July 2026 KFF briefing "Medicaid and the Road Ahead") signal an emerging programmatic-partnership layer on top of the core editorial product.

Name

Stateline

Legal name

Stateline

Website

https://stateline.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Stateline is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit news organization within States Newsroom that delivers free, nonpartisan daily reporting and analysis on U.S. state-level policy — health care, democracy, economy, environment, social issues, and criminal justice — to readers and republishing media outlets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

State Policy Journalism

NAICS

Radio and Television Broadcasting Stations (5161)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

News, Politics & Current Affairs Magazines (MPAJAEAO)

akta.pro secondary industry

Public Affairs, Government Relations & Lobbying (BPAFADAB)

Keywords

• State policy news
• Nonprofit journalism
• Statehouse reporting
• Policy analysis news
• Weekly policy newsletter

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Funding comes from individual contributions from readers and supporters who donate to the nonprofit news organization.
2. Institutional Grants: Funding from institutional grants provides operational support for the news organization.
3. Newsletter Subscription: Stateline offers a free weekly newsletter 'Stateline Weekly' delivering top stories to subscribers' inboxes.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Stateline produces daily, nonpartisan reporting and analysis on state and local policy issues across all 50 U.S. states, covering topics such as health, democracy, economy, education, environment, social issues, and criminal justice. It distributes this journalism for free via its website and a weekly email newsletter, and offers in-person policy briefings such as "Medicaid and The Road Ahead" produced in partnership with KFF.

Product overview

Stateline operates as a single, unified nonprofit news service focused on state and local policy coverage. The core offering is its news reporting across six policy categories (Health, Democracy, Economy, Environment, Social Issues, and Justice), supplemented by a weekly email newsletter and periodic virtual policy events. There is no modular software platform; the organization provides editorial content rather than a technology product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Stateline Daily State Policy News Coverage Daily, nonpartisan reporting and analysis on state and local policy issues across all 50 U.S. states, covering health, democracy, economy, education, environment, social issues, and criminal justice. Available for free to the general public with no paywalls.
• Stateline News of the Week (Weekly Newsletter) A free weekly email newsletter delivering a curated digest of Stateline's most important state and local policy stories to subscribers, authored by Staff Writer Elisha Brown.
• Medicaid and The Road Ahead (Policy Briefing Event) An in-person and online policy briefing on state Medicaid developments, co-hosted with KFF, providing civic engagement and educational value for policymakers, journalists, and engaged citizens.

Quantifiable outcome

• Nation's largest state-focused nonprofit news organization with reporters in all 50 state capitals

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• KFFmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 July 2026Joint public policy briefing event 'Medicaid and the Road Ahead' scheduled for July 23, 2026. Features KFF policy experts (Robin Rudowitz, Jen Tolbert) and States Newsroom journalists discussing Medicaid changes, federal funding cuts, work requirements, and impacts on states, providers, and families.
• States NewsroomcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStateline joined States Newsroom in 2023, transitioning from its longtime home at The Pew Charitable Trusts. States Newsroom is the nation's largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, providing non-partisan coverage from all 50 state capitals with over 220 journalists.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• VTDigger: Vermont-based nonprofit news outlet covering state government and policy. Comparable in that it is a free, donor-funded digital newsroom focused on state-level policy, representing the single-state nonprofit model that Stateline aggregates at the national level.
• The Texas Tribune: Pioneering nonprofit, nonpartisan statehouse newsroom providing deep coverage of Texas government and policy. Directly comparable to Stateline in mission (free, donor-funded state policy journalism) though concentrated in a single state, making it both a competitor for donor dollars and a benchmark for editorial quality.
• The Marshall Project: Nonprofit newsroom dedicated to covering criminal justice and public safety, a topic that overlaps with Stateline's dedicated criminal justice beat. Comparable as a topic-specialist nonprofit that relies on donations and grants and offers free, ad-free coverage.
• The 19th News: Nonprofit newsroom covering politics, policy, and gender and identity issues at state and federal levels. Comparable in free, donation-funded model and policy journalism positioning, though focused on a specific demographic lens across beats that overlap with Stateline's democracy and society coverage.
• Chalkbeat: Nonprofit news organization covering education policy at the state and local level across multiple states. Comparable in nonprofit funding model and multi-state policy coverage, and directly overlaps with Stateline's education policy reporting within its broader beat structure.
• CalMatters: California-focused nonprofit newsroom covering state policy including health, education, environment, and economy. Comparable to Stateline in scope of policy beats, ad-free nonprofit model, and use of syndication to extend reach beyond its home state.
• States Newsroom: Stateline's parent organization and the nation's largest state-focused nonprofit news network with reporters in all 50 state capitals. Operationally the most directly comparable entity, as it runs the shared infrastructure, editorial standards, and distribution that Stateline depends on.

Others

• KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation): Independent nonprofit health policy research and journalism organization that is also Stateline's active co-hosting partner on Medicaid policy events. Comparable as a nonprofit information provider in adjacent health policy territory and a strategic partner that signals the institutional ecosystem Stateline operates within.

Broad incumbents

• ProPublica: One of the largest and best-known nonprofit investigative newsrooms in the U.S., funded primarily through donations and grants. Comparable in nonprofit funding model and editorial independence standards, though it focuses on national investigative work rather than statehouse coverage.
• Center for Public Integrity: Established nonprofit investigative newsroom covering public policy, money in politics, and state and federal accountability. Comparable in nonprofit, donor-funded investigative model and overlap with Stateline's democracy and government accountability coverage.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/stateline_news

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Stateline