Margaux Maxwell is a 2026 RJI Professional Innovation Fellow. She and Arya Surowidjojo are building a journalist-run cooperative digital publishing platform for independent and creator journalists doing investigative and community reporting across the country. It includes a shared publishing layer that allows journalists to publish on their own domains while relying on collectively governed infrastructure, rather than big-tech platforms whose incentives and algorithms may not align with journalism’s values. Planned features include opt-in legal risk review, guides and resources such as physical and digital safety planning, opt-in editorial mentorship and peer review, secure document management, FOIA tracking tools, and censorship-resilient publishing. This decentralized newsroom model is designed to empower independent journalists serving their communities outside of institutional media structures. 

Margaux Maxwell is the Director of Platform and Product at Oregon Public Broadcasting, with past positions at The Seattle Times, U.S. Department of State and The Somerville Times. Schlosberg is the VP of Community Connections at Oregon Public Broadcasting.