Our approach
We’re the first venture philanthropy organization dedicated to local news. We build new organizations, grow existing ones and catalyze the local movement to support local news.
Build
Build new organizations
We identify opportunities to better meet a community’s information needs and, when it’s needed, launch new organizations with partners. Here’s how:
Identify community information gaps
Through our Local Philanthropy Partnerships program, we partner with local philanthropies and civic leaders to identify local news gaps and research information ecosystems.
Design strong solutions
We translate our findings into program concepts that address information gaps, find the most effective paths to serving underserved communities, and strengthen existing newsrooms with more original reporting.
Launch new organizations
In some markets, as we identify gaps in capacity to meet local news and information needs, our Startup Studio helps launch new nonprofit newsrooms. The Studio supports founding teams with board formation, executive recruitment, strategic planning, and fundraising.
We asked 5,000 people across the country what they want from local news. Here’s what we learned.
Grow
Grow existing organizations
We provide funding and strategic support to help the leaders of our portfolio build strong operations with diversified, sustainable revenue, enabling them to grow their newsrooms and strengthen the communities they serve. Here’s how:
local news organizations supported since 2019
We make three-year catalytic investments
We make major investments, averaging about $1 million per organization over three years, to help build long-term financial sustainability and revenue growth that sustains the organization for years to come.
Provide robust venture support
In addition to capital, we provide the long-term support needed to build resilient local news organizations. Each member of our portfolio receives a dedicated support partner, connections to other organizations in our portfolio, targeted training and capacity building. We continually adapt our venture support to organizations’ needs and strategic challenges.
of organizations in our portfolio grew their revenue in 2025
targeted grants distributed to our portfolio for AI & product experimentation
Connect with specialized support
Portfolio organizations, including those who have completed their three-year investments, can access specialized support through the Knight Resiliency Lab, which includes the Product & AI Studio. Through these programs, we provide targeted support in areas like financial planning, fundraising, growth strategy, audience growth, product development, and AI applications.
The commitment is obvious. Every member of AJP makes me feel like they have as much if not more invested in our success than I do.
Portfolio member
Catalyze
Catalyze the local news movement
We raise awareness about why local news is essential. We rally philanthropic and local news leaders around strategies that drive results for our communities. Here’s how:
Make the case for local news
We engage civic leaders and funders to build understanding of local news as a public good that strengthens accountability, community connection and democracy.
Share what we’re learning
We share what we’re learning from our work with newsrooms across the country, sharing findings that help the field understand what’s working and where opportunities lie.
Mobilize philanthropic support
We mobilize funding from national and local philanthropies to support sustainable local news — including many funders that are new to supporting local news — demonstrating that strategic investment in local news can revitalize a sustainable future for local news and deliver measurable community impact.
Our impact
in revenue generated by our grantee portfolio in 2025
year over year growth in median portfolio organization revenue
full-time newsroom staff employed by our grantee portfolio in 2025, a 21% increase over 2023
The values that guide us
Our work is rooted in a set of core values that shape how we invest, partner, and support newsrooms building trusted local journalism.
Local first
Bold leadership
Constant learning
Commitment to equity
Integrity