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Stories About Nora Hertel

Project Optimist Founder Nora Hertel leads a training on solutions journalism for Arts Midwest's Creative Midwest Media Cohort gathering in Minneapolis, Minn., on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. Photo: Mia McGill | Arts Midwest

Local journalism is hard work. Help us carry the load

June 11, 2024
RJI Partnerships

Through my first decade in the field, Nora Hertel could see that local audiences did not feel well served as the media grew more polarized, nationalized and negative. So, she left in 2021 and launched her own news organization, Project Optimist.

Project Optimist founder Nora Hertel (center) talks with a Jama Alimad (right), an elder in St. Cloud's Somali community, and Sara Nimis (left), a volunteer moderator in the Shades of Purple dialogue series, during the first dialogue event May 13, 2023 at the Stearns History Museum in St. Cloud, Minn.

The highs and lows of launching multiple products in a news startup

May 25, 2023
RJI Partnerships

Project Optimist launched with a single product and now works on multiple fronts.

This is me with my husband Ben Decker and our kid Jude on December 10, 2022, when we were all healthy enough to see a holiday show in St. Cloud, MN.

How being a solopreneur has forced me to reckon with my limitations

February 21, 2023
RJI Partnerships

Learning to set boundaries while I launch a news organization — amid a pandemic — is as important as learning to market and fundraise.

Nora Hertel, left, founder ofThe Optimist, talks with fellow journalist Jenny Berg in St. Cloud, Minnesota, in November 2022. Photo: Sarah Kocher

Founding The Optimist

August 23, 2022
RJI Partnerships

Solution-focused journalism and community conversations for rural Minnesotans.

Tiny News Collective

RJI announces funding for three of this year’s Tiny News Collective founding newsrooms

April 11, 2022
RJI Partnerships

In partnership with the Tiny News Collective, which supports the development of collaborative community newsrooms, The Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) at the Missouri School of Journalism today announced the three startup news organizations it is supporting through a total of $300,000 in funding over two years.

Kate Myers

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  • News & events
    • RJI news
    • RJI columns
    • Pictures of the Year
    • Student Innovation Competition
    • Women in Journalism Workshop
    • RJI Weekend Newsletter
    • RJI Newsbooks
  • RJI Fellowships
    • Fellows
    • About RJI fellowships
    • Frequently asked questions
    • Resources
    • Student Innovation Fellowships
  • RJI Programs
    • Aerial Journalism
    • Journalism Digital News Archive (JDNA)
    • Potter Digital Ambassadors
    • Trusting News
  • Applied Research
    • Innovation in Focus
    • Source Auditing Tool
    • Source Tracking Playbook
  • About RJI
    • People
    • Facilities
    • Our timeline
    • Download RJI Strategic Plan 2023–2026
    • Download 10 Innovative Years: 2008–2018
RJI logo mark Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute

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