Co-ops, staff-led nonprofits, and democratically-run newsrooms are on the rise

Newsrooms come in all different shapes and sizes, and in the last five years there’s been an explosion in non-traditional news organizations where journalists have control of the reins.

This isn’t an aberration. It mirrors our communities’ increased desire for worker-owned and -run businesses. 

From 2021-2023, worker cooperatives grew by more than 20%, according to a report from the Democracy at Work Institute and the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC). Over the last decade, the number of co-ops in the U.S. has tripled. 

“I think a lot of people are looking for — especially with COVID and the growth of freelancer arenas – collective ways to make their living that align with their values,” said Matt Feinstein, USFWC’s co-op clinic technical assistance manager. “And especially in terms of the information arenas, the need is very high right now for independent voices and independent sources of information and news media. And so I think the combination of those has led to [growth].”

Launching news organizations where journalists not only have a say, but some sort of control, over their work and future is even more appealing as corporations and private equity firms constantly slash and burn (out) staff.

“There are many benefits to the worker co-op model,” said Feinstein. “A lot of it is about leveraging their collective resources in their community, so it’s not just based on the skills, ability and resources of one person and then they bring on a team. It’s really to pull together the experience, resources, and broader resources of the community to form the enterprise.”

Plus, as newspapers and big digital bets continue to shutter there’s a critical sustainability advantage to these business models.

“They tend to be longer lasting than other small businesses, there’s that community buy-in and we see more longevity,” said Feinstein.

So, what is a non-traditional newsroom?

I define nontraditional newsrooms as companies that provide journalists the ability to make critical business decisions. They are, essentially, democratic news organizations.

To define this more narrowly, a current working definition (adapted from USFWC) is organizations that have:

• Newsrooms: The organization’s purpose is newsgathering and reporting, and it is actively publishing.
• Legal structure: It is a stand-alone legal entity (not an informal collaborative or initiative).
• Revenue: The organization generates funds to pay for staff.
• Staff: It has at least two (ideally three, as this is where decisions become more complicated) employees/ paid workers, or are in the building phase with the intention of having staff within the next year.
• Democratic structure: The organization has democratic governance, where at least a majority of workers have decision-making power in significant organizational decisions through innovative structures and/or internal policies.

3 types of non-traditional newsrooms

I’ve analyzed 75 media organizations in the U.S. and abroad, and around one-third of those in the U.S. would be a non-traditional newsroom per the above criteria.

While many describe themselves uniquely in terms of their business structures, three main categories emerge: co-ops, staff-run nonprofits, and democratic newsrooms.

(It’s important to note that there are other innovative corporate structures — such as being owned by a corporate co-operative or public benefit trust — but these often don’t give staff decision-making power, so are not included here.)

1. Co-ops

Also known as: Worker-owned, journalist-owned, or employee-owned company; can include worker collectives.

These newsrooms have members that own the business. Most commonly these are worker co-ops, where the owners are the day-to-day workers. (There are also a small number of community and multi-stakeholder newsroom co-ops that include outside owners.) These owners can share the profits of the company and make decisions with a “one worker, one vote” principle. 

Note: There are many types of worker-owned structures, such as employee stock ownership plans (ESOPS), but these rarely have the democratic structure of a co-op.
Examples: 404 Media, Defector, Hell Gate, Long Beach Watchdog, RANGE, Tone Madison

2. Staff-run nonprofits

Also known as: Worker-led nonprofits, worker self-directed nonprofits, democratically worker-managed non-profit, or democratically-run nonprofits.
These newsrooms combine the democratic principles of co-ops with the structure, and the accompanying legal requirements, of being a non-profit. Like co-ops, staff manage the day-to-day work and then completely or partially control the organization’s governance. The Sustainable Economies Law Center has helped pioneer this model.

Note: These newsrooms are sometimes incorrectly described as co-ops or as being worker-owned, but non-profits do not have owners.

Examples: The Appeal, The 51st, Athens County Independent

3. Democratic newsrooms

These newsrooms may be more traditional companies or nonprofits, but have internal structures, policies or practices that support significant democratic decision-making. Their approaches could include shared, participatory or consensus-based decision-making; non-hierarchical, holacracy or committee structures; and/or co-leadership, shared leadership or rotating leadership.

Examples: Canopy Atlanta, Dollars & Sense, Invisible Institute

Building resources

If you help run a non-traditional newsroom, or are interested in starting one, I’d love to chat to you about what needs you have and resources you would find helpful. Please fill out this survey or book a time to chat.

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Cite this article

Chan, Tara Francis (2025, Sept. 8). What is a non-traditional newsroom? Reynolds Journalism Institute. Retrieved from: https://rjionline.org/news/what-is-a-non-traditional-newsroom/