Our history
The story of the American Journalism Project
The American Journalism Project was founded in 2019 by John Thornton and Elizabeth Green, two pioneers in the field of mission-driven local nonprofit news.
John and Elizabeth shared a conviction that local journalism, an essential civic institution, needed a new, sustainable model of investment and support. As commercial markets failed to sustain it, they saw that the future of local news would depend on reimagining it as a public good — something society must collectively build and uphold.
Together, John and Elizabeth launched the American Journalism Project as a new kind of venture philanthropy for local news. Their first-of-its kind approach set out to inspire philanthropy to make big bets on local news and brought an investor’s mindset to philanthropy, emphasizing growth, business sustainability, and the promise shown by emerging digital news organizations, pairing each investment with hands-on support to help leaders build strong, lasting operations. They rallied early funders and partners who shared their belief in local news as a public good and began investing in the first nonprofit news organizations in AJP’s portfolio. Those beginnings marked the start of a new approach that continues to guide our work today.
John Thornton
John, a venture capitalist and founder of The Texas Tribune, became one of the earliest and most influential voices arguing that journalism should be treated as a public good rather than a commodity. The Texas Tribune itself became a model for nonprofit, digital-first news; it demonstrated a sustainable, diversified revenue model for civic journalism.
Elizabeth Green
Elizabeth, then co-founder and CEO of Chalkbeat and now co-founder of Civic News Company, brought firsthand experience building sustainable nonprofit newsrooms from the ground up. Chalkbeat had shown how to galvanize new kinds of topical philanthropy for local news by inspiring education funders and sponsors to support the work, and built a model that could scale across many communities.
Our work today
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Today, the American Journalism Project carries forward the founders’ vision through a venture philanthropy model built for lasting impact, one that has evolved into a robust strategy to strengthen and reimagine local news.
We not only invest in nonprofit news organizations, but also partner closely with their leaders to strengthen business foundations, develop strong products, and position their organizations for long-term sustainability.