The Documenters Network welcomes four new communities in Kansas, New Jersey and North Dakota

Tribal public meetings, public funding and collaborative journalism: Meet the newest members of the Documenters Network

This article was first published Feb. 7, 2024 in the City Bureau.

Over the past eight years, the Documenters Network has grown from free, accessible trainings at public library branches in Chicago to a movement for participatory civic media spanning fifteen cities in eleven states. Unified around a shared set of values and practices, Documenters is a multi-local network, celebrating the best of local journalism while creating opportunities for learning and community building across states and regions.

This spring, we’re thrilled to welcome four new communities to the Documenters Network

Wichita Documenters, powered by the Wichita Journalism Collaborative

The Wichita Journalism Collaborative is a coalition of newsrooms and community partners joining forces to help meet news and information needs in and around Wichita. Wichita will be our first Documenters community in Kansas. Funded by the Wichita Foundation, the Wichita Documenters will join a thriving collaborative of public media, digital startups and community media outlets including KMUW, Planeta Venus, The Community Voice, The KLC Journal and The Wichita Beacon.

Newark Documenters, powered by the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice and New Brunswick Documenters, powered by CoLAB Arts

For the first time, we’re launching multiple Documenters Network sites within the same state. The New Jersey Civic Information Consortium is a first-in-the-nation project that reimagines how public funding can be used to address the growing problem of news deserts, misinformation, and support more informed communities. By piloting Documenters in several locations across New Jersey we can showcase a model for how public and private funding can increase local journalism capacity, contribute to workforce development and equip local residents to hold their public officials to account.

Bismarck Documenters, powered by Buffalo’s Fire

For our first Indigenous-led Documenters site, we welcome online news site Buffalo’s Fire and the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance. Based in Bismarck, North Dakota. Buffalo’s Fire will focus on public meetings relative to American Indians in the Bismarck-Mandan area and the nearby Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Expansion plans will include other reservations across the state. We’ll work together to build a model for increased transparency of open public meetings in Indian Country. Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance Founding Director, Jodi Rave Spotted Bear, is leading a push for freedom of information and sunshine laws to counter tribal news deserts.

Relaunching Omaha Documenters!
In addition to these new communities joining the network, we’re psyched to work with two incredible organizations to relaunch Omaha Documenters. The Nebraska Journalism Trust and Civic Nebraska are teaming up to support the community of Documenters in Omaha and plan ahead to launching new sites across Nebraska. We love how these two organizations will combine their skills in local journalism and civic engagement to make something greater together

The Documenters Network is expanding and we can’t wait to bring more communities together in our growing network. If you’re interested in bringing Documenters to your city or region, please let us know!

Want to learn more about City Bureau’s growing Documenters Network? Check out Documenters.org.

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