"Virginia Mercury" redirects here. For the flowering plant, see Acalypha virginica.
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States Newsroom is a left-leaning[1] non-profit news organization with outlets or partner outlets in all 50 U.S. states.[2] It began as a sponsored project of the Hopewell Fund, a left-leaning nonprofit that does not disclose its donors.[3][4] In 2019, it spun off to become its own non-profit. States Newsroom grew out of NC Policy Watch, a progressive think tank in North Carolina founded in 2004 by Chris Fitzsimon, who is now States Newsroom's director and publisher.[5]
A 2024 study by NewsGuard, a misinformation tracking company, found that "the number of partisan-backed outlets designed to look like impartial news outlets has officially surpassed the number of real, local daily newspapers in the U.S." NewsGuard identified at least 1,265 such websites "backed by dark money or intentionally masquerading as local news sites for political purposes." According to Axios, almost half of these websites are targeted to swing states, "a clear sign that they're designed to influence politics." On the political left, States Newsroom was described by Axios as having "some of the more strategic sites." Meanwhile, as of 2023, there were only 1,213 daily local newspapers in the U.S.[6]
In December 2021, States Newsroom announced plans to nearly double its presence from 25 states to 40 states. The organization reported raising $10 million in 2020. According to The Washington Post, "Their affiliates publish opinion pieces, much like newspapers' editorial pages, that largely lean left."[7]
States Newsroom had anticipated revenue of more than $27 million by the end of 2021. As of 2024, it reported having 220 full-time employees, with an annual budget of more than $22 million.[2] It grew from five affiliates upon its 2019 launch to 39 freestanding newsrooms at 11 partner outlets by early 2024.[2] In July 2020, all the publications associated with States Newsroom were included in a resource created by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism purporting to show "hyperpartisan sites... masquerading as local news", but they were removed from the list after States Newsroom's national editor noted that the funding model is much more transparent and that many staffers for the group are longtime journalists.[8][9]
The Wyss Foundation, founded by Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss, has donated to States Newsroom. Media watchdog NewsGuard said State Newsroom's journalism had been "bought by people with a political agenda", a charge States Newsroom has rebutted.[10]The Columbia Journalism Review reported that States Newsroom accepts no corporate donations and publicly shares the sources of all contributions above $1,000.[2]
States Newsroom's outlet in Alabama, the Alabama Reflector, was a finalist for the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary.[11] Brian Lyman of the Alabama Reflector was recognized "For brave, clear and pointed columns that challenge ever-more-repressive state policies flouting democratic norms and targeting vulnerable populations, written with the command and authority of a veteran political observer."[12]
