TNC is thrilled to welcome our first-ever response and resilience program manager, Massarah Mikati, to our team. She will focus on supporting members with the specific risks they face as news founders of community-rooted outlets. The new program will offer concrete help with digital security, legal questions, mental health and operational stability. 

Massarah brings her varied experience as a journalist, consultant and trainer dedicated to helping newsrooms implement more inclusive, culturally competent and community-centered engagement journalism at an institutional level. She currently works at OpenNews as part-time community manager, and has had previous roles at Vox and Hearken.

With a deep commitment to amplifying underrepresented voices, Massarah has pioneered new beats from Upstate New York to Texas, showcasing the diversity and complexity of communities of color. Her work focuses on repairing and strengthening the relationship between newsrooms and the communities they serve.

"I've dedicated my entire career to more authentic, ethical coverage for communities of color — and have firsthand experience with the gratification, and also challenges and risks, that come with that work,” Massarah said. “That's what makes me so excited to take on this new role with Tiny News Collective supporting journalists to carry out their important work safely and in community."

TNC’s new response and resilience program was created to support our members — early-stage, often one- or two-person newsrooms, many led by BIPOC or immigrant founders — as they face escalating threats to press freedom, personal safety and personal well-being. These members often operate without access to institutional support systems such as legal counsel, HR or mental health services.

As program manager, Massarah will be the connective tissue between members’ urgent needs and the ecosystem of support that can help them endure and thrive under these circumstances. We are grateful for the generous support of our response and resilience programming from Democracy Fund and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

“We hear again and again what founders are expected to consider when launching and sustaining a news business,” said Elaine Díaz Rodríguez, membership director at Tiny News Collective. “This program focuses on the individual level, offering support to the people leading these organizations and recognizing the real circumstances in which they are working. It goes beyond business indicators to address the human side of running a newsroom — the loneliness,the lack of safety and security, the emotional load and the digital and physical threats founders face. Without resilient individuals, we cannot build resilient newsrooms.”

Welcome to the team, Massarah! 💖