Helping news entrepreneurs and their communities flourish everywhere
By Amy L. Kovac-Ashley
At Tiny News Collective, we recognize that no two local newsrooms or newsroom leaders walk the same path. As our community grows (with 73 active members!), the need for spaces where members can reflect on their unique challenges, lean on peers and test ideas together becomes ever more pressing. That’s why we’re thrilled to introduce Hives — peer learning groups launching this fall — designed to foster connection, support and collective problem‑solving among members navigating similar terrains.
Each Hive is intentionally small and lightly structured — not a rigid class or a coaching program, but a space for collective learning. Members will engage synchronously and asynchronously, guided by expert facilitators and anchored by feedback from the group itself. It’s in these spaces that founders can bring real challenges, share what’s working, listen to fresh perspectives and emerge with ideas (or even just encouragement) they hadn’t anticipated.
We’ll begin with two pilot Hives in 2025 focused on two common models in our network. The Solopreneurs Hive, led by Jos Duncan‑Asé (pictured above, left), is for those wearing every hat — from journalism to operations to community engagement — often working in isolation. The Co‑Leadership Hive, facilitated by Harry Backlund (pictured above, right), is tailored for pairs, teams or collective newsrooms wrestling with questions of shared power, dividing labor and sustaining healthy decision‑making practices.
The Co-Leadership Hive met for the first time in September, and we looked at three common themes in co-leadership: social-emotional skills, how intuition and structure can be in tension with one another and the illusion of a flat structure.
These pilots will help us learn how Hives can best serve our members, and we expect to expand into more configurations over time. This program helps us lean into the “collective” part of our name, with members helping each other.
Our membership director Elaine Díaz Rodríguez is directing the Hives and said, “We think this will give founders a safe space with like-minded people to share their triumphs and travails in community. Running a news startup can be lonely, and we are designing Hives to give them the support they need, with a trusted facilitator.”
We can’t wait to build this alongside our members. To learn more about Hives, read this story.
🗣️TNC around town: For those going to the Press Forward Summit in Charlotte, Newsgeist in Phoenix or ComNet in Denver, please find me and let’s catch up! And if you will attend the Better Together event put on by INN at CUNY, please find Erica to say hello. 👋
We are proud to announce that Amy Austin, a leader in alternative media and community-centered arts, is joining our board as the first non-founding member. This milestone marks a significant moment in TNC's evolution, signaling our continued growth and expanding vision for inclusive, civic-minded journalism.
“I am thrilled to join the Tiny News Collective board at an inflection point for the organization,” Austin said. “TNC plans to expand and grow, including news startups with an arts and culture focus, as well as those with an alternative media spirit, which fit so well with my experience. I can’t wait to help the organization as it takes its next step toward strengthening local news in communities around the country.”
We’re delighted to welcome Amy Austin to the Tiny News board and look forward to the insights, creativity and heart she brings. 💖 Read more about Amy in this post.
The Tiny News Collective is in the process of hiring its first Collective Fellow to support our mission- and member-driven work and build capacity and develop talent in the journalism support ecosystem.
With this fellowship, Tiny News Collective will work with an early-career professional with 1 to 3 years of experience who wants to increase their knowledge and skills in community-rooted media, community management, nonprofit management and the journalism support landscape.
“With this position, we will not only increase our capacity to support news founders but also aim to serve the field-building needs of the journalism landscape,” said Amy L. Kovac-Ashley, executive director of Tiny News Collective. “Journalism support and service organizations require professionals with a holistic view of the field, and we believe that this fellowship will help plant seeds for understanding and anticipating the needs of news organizations to better serve them.”
Learn more about the fellowship program here.
For our latest “5 Questions with…” feature, we caught up with Emily Christensen and Teri Mott (pictured above), co-founders of The SHOUT, an online publication covering arts and culture in Wichita, Kansas, and the communities that surround it. In 2023, The SHOUT was one of three publishers chosen to receive funding in the Wichita Foundation’s Info Challenge, a partnership with Tiny News Collective. The duo talked about the challenges of artists working in the Midwest, the trials and eventual triumph of their crucial arts calendar, and their vision for expanding into exhibitions and even film screenings.
“We hope to expand our editorial coverage, run more stories and reviews about work happening around Kansas, refine our calendar and get better at social media,” they said. “We’re looking forward to upcoming experiments with exhibitions, film screenings and more creative ways to share our work and vision.”
Read the whole story here.
Tiny News Collective, in partnership with the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN), is offering startup sessions to anyone interested in learning more about creating a news and information outlet. In the sessions, we discuss the audience and business factors to consider and the practical next steps along the journey of becoming a news founder. Attendees also learn more about TNC and INN.
Register here for the sessions. The next two sessions will be on October 14 and 28, and attendees will get to meet our new membership director Elaine Díaz Rodríguez. Please share the link with anyone you know who might be interested in learning about creating an independent news organization. We would love to have them!
We love to see our members get the recognition they deserve. This month, there was a lot to celebrate, including winners at the LION Sustainability Awards! 🎊
🌟 Henok Mengistu at Ethiopique was named an Obama Foundation USA Leader, and Ethiopique received a Public Service Award at LION.
🎉 Mat-Su Sentinel was named New LION Business of the Year.
👏 Elaine Díaz Rodríguez of TNC was recognized for “outstanding contributions to LION.”
🏅 Kara Meyberg Guzman (board member of TNC) and co-founder of Santa Cruz Local, which won LION’s Business of the Year and Public Service Awards.
📰 Mark Swartz of Aging in America News was named a Journalists in Aging Fellow.
📚 Amethyst Davis (Harvey World Herald), Eric Falquero (The 51st), Kari Mar (La Conner Community News) and Caitlin Schmidt (Tucson Spotlight), were named to the second cohort of CUNY’s Nonprofit News Business Certificate program.
💥 Whitney McKnight of The Edge received the 2025 Federal Action, Local Impact Journalism Fellowship from the National Press Foundation.
We love seeing our TNC founders out in the real world, giving talks, getting quoted and showing up in their communities. Here are some highlights:
🗣️ Claudia Amaro of Planeta Venus shared her immigration journey at College Hill United Methodist Church in Wichita (pictured above).
📹 Esta Es La Cosa and Stumptown Savings were featured in a piece on creator-led journalism in GroundTruth, written by fellow TNC member Rahim Jessani, founder of Bottom Up Media. The story calls on more journalism organizations to support this model.
🌵 Tucson Spotlight was featured in The Latino Newsletter, another TNC member, highlighting new paths after newsroom layoffs. It’s a story of rebuilding local journalism with community at the center.
🚶Cara Kuhlman of Future Tides wrote about her walking tours for RJI and shared her journey on the Journalism Salute podcast. She explores how tours can connect reporting with people and places.
🗞️ INMA spotlighted the launch of the News Relay Network, built to better serve local readers. It highlights community collaboration as a tool for deeper neighborhood news.
🤝 2PuntosLocalNews partnered with Metro Philly to amplify young Latine voices in Philadelphia. The collaboration focuses on identity, belonging and civic pride.
📹 Esta Es La Cosa released a video on journalist Mario Guevara’s ICE detention. The episode explores the chilling effect on immigrant journalists and communities.
🗳️ Mat-Su Sentinel hosted its first candidate forum, bringing local politics back to center stage. The last one held in the community was in 2010.
💰 COYOTE Media Collective surpassed its $150,000 fundraising goal, powering its mission forward as it launched its new website!
🌾 Steve Schewe was honored with “Steve Schewe Day” in Eden Prairie for his leadership at Eden Prairie Local News. EPLN also celebrated its fifth anniversary this month! 🎉
🇵🇷 Connect Puerto Rico celebrated its one-year anniversary on Sept. 20, which was also the eighth anniversary of Hurricane Maria making landfall in Puerto Rico.
🍽️ Stumptown Savings partnered with Meals on Wheels to document the rising cost of food in Portland. The collaboration gives insight into how the program fights food insecurity for seniors.
📰 Whitney McKnight of The Edge had two investigative stories republished by the Kentucky Lantern. Her reporting on a lack of transparency at a utility is gaining statewide attention — a deeply personal milestone.
Building Bridges: An Immigrant Media Training Program from Documented
Each newsroom selected to participate in the training will receive $10,000 in stipends to launch a news product designed with immigrants and will participate in a final investment round to receive extra funds for its development. The program runs from January to May 2026. Apply by October 12.
Solutions Journalism Revenue Accelerator from Solutions Journalism Network and Blue Engine Collaborative
The Solutions Journalism Revenue Accelerator will help news organizations grow revenue through subscriptions, membership and donations in support of solutions journalism. The program runs from January through July 2026, with coaching, training and $10,000 per newsroom. Apply by October 17.
RJI Professional Innovation Fellowship Q&A
RJI will host a Q&A about their annual fellowship opportunity on Dec. 3. The application will open on Dec. 1 for the 2026-27 fellowships. They offer both residential and non-residential options, and the focus is creating a resource, tool or project that will help advance the journalism field and will be open-source. Learn more about the fellowship here.
First Amendment Academy from NEWSWELL, Freedom Forum and ASU Learning
The Academy is a series of free, nonpartisan, quick courses and interactive quizzes designed to raise awareness and understanding of our First Amendment rights. Newsrooms can simply embed the quizzes directly into stories or newsletters at no cost.
Thanks for reading the latest edition of the Big Blast from Tiny News. Be sure to follow us on social media to keep up with the latest from TNC and our amazing group of founders!
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tiny-news-collective/Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/tinynewscollective.bsky.social
The Big Blast Credits
Written by Amy L. Kovac-Ashley, with Mark Glaser
Edited by Amy L. Kovac-Ashley
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