Description of the video:
[Oseye Boyd is speaking to the camera. Lower thirds: Oxeye Boyd, Mirror Indy, Editor in Chief]
Oseye Boyd: I think one of the things people need to understand is journalism is not dead. That was something that was being said years ago. "Why are you going to go into journalism? It's dead. It's a dying field." It is not dying. It is evolving. It is changing.
[Video of Oseye Boyd working at her computer]
Oseye Boyd: Yes, some things don't work and you got to get rid of those things that don't work. But that doesn't mean that you can't find something that does work.
[Oseye Boyd is speaking to the camera.]
Oseye Boyd: People still need us.
[Video of journalists working in the Mirror Indy newsroom.]
[Someone is recording a smartphone video of Mary Claire Molloy speaking.]
Mary Claire Molloy: I asked the airport authority about this and they said due to federal aviation rules they can't stop ICE from using the airways. The activists
hope by showing up they will bring awareness to this issue.
[Mary Claire Molloy is speaking to the camera. Lower thirds: Mary Claire Molloy, Mirror Indy, Health Reporter]
Mary Claire Molloy: Mirror Indy is a nonprofit newsroom covering the city of Indianapolis. We're trying to reflect the stories of our neighbors and community members.
[A closeup of a laptop. Journalists working in the newsroom.]
Mary Claire Molloy: And that could be politics, health, which is what I cover, neighborhood reporters. We have people on the west and east sides that specifically write about those neighborhoods and the south side. Education.
[Mary Claire Molloy is speaking to the camera.]
Mary Claire Molloy: And our goal is just to make Indianapolis more informed and empower people with news that they can use and actually maybe show up at a public meeting.
[Another reporter is recording a smartphone video of Mary Claire Molloy. Journalists work in the newsroom.]
Mary Claire Molloy: or voice their opinion and have knowledge that we are sharing for free because there's no paywall.
[Oseye Boyd works at a computer. Journalists work in the newsroom.]
Oseye Boyd: We're free. We are free. We are, there was never a paywall for any of our content. There's not a stop, you know, we don't limit you to five articles a month or whatever.
[Oseye Boyd is speaking to the camera.]
Oseye Boyd: We let you read our content because we believe it is vital for us to have a citizenry that is informed
[Journalists working in the newsroom.]
Oseye Boyd: and that is engaged civically and is part of the community and understands and knows where resources are. So, we will never have a paywall.
[Oseye Boyd is speaking to the camera.]
Oseye Boyd: That's part of our promise and that's part of our mission.
[Tyler Fenwick is speaking to the camera. Lower thirds: Tyler Fenwick, Mirror Indy, Economics Reporter.]
Tyler Fenwick: There's a business difference where for-profit media is driven by advertisements and subscriptions and we are not, we are totally free. We do have members who donate but
[Journalists working in the newsroom.]
Tyler Fenwick: whether you give $0, $1 or $1,000 you get the same access to our content. As far as the journalism we do,
[Tyler Fenwick is speaking to the camera.]
Tyler Fenwick: I think that frees us up to do more community-focused storytelling.
[Journalists working in the newsroom.]
Oseye Boyd: We are here to fill gaps in Indianapolis. We are here to reflect Indianapolis. That's why our name is Mirror Indy.
[Oseye Boyd is speaking to the camera.]
Oseye Boyd: It's for us by us. So it's people who live and work in this city, covering people who live and work in this city.
[Journalists working in the newsroom.]
Tyler Fenwick: Mirror Indy is a community-focused newsroom that covers Indianapolis residents, everyday people.
[Tyler Fenwick is speaking to the camera.]
Tyler Fenwick: And we do it through multiple lenses. Accountability to government officials and community-focused storytelling.
[Closeup of documents on a desk. The top paper says: What's your most unserious New Year's resolution? Call MirrorIndy at: 317-268-2017 and share your resolutions with us. Journalists working in the newsroom. A reporter's notebook.]
Tyler Fenwick: So going to residents and getting questions and ideas from them and then crafting our storytelling around what they're saying.
[Oseye Boyd is speaking to the camera.]
Oseye Boyd: I don't want to say we give voice to the voiceless, but we focus on people who are underrepresented, who often are ignored or never even thought about in media. We tell those stories. And there are so many in our city that are often unheard and untold.
[Journalists working in the newsroom.]
Tyler Fenwick: The engagement we get is so, it's so great and it feels so real because we've taken that approach
[Tyler Fenwick is speaking to the camera.]
Tyler Fenwick: not top-down, "Hello fellow citizens, here's what we found today. Here you go." They're really part of it and they're asking questions and giving feedback and then we're taking that and using it to get better.
[A wall that says: Insightful: We go beyond the surface to spark understanding and shape meaningful conversations. Champions: Beyond reporting, we use our platform to keep attention on issues that matter to our community. Amplifiers: Here, every voice matters, and diverse perspectives foster unity and understanding across... Truthful: We deliver news that is accurate, honest and transparent, because integrity in journalism .. Community-drive: ... engaged participants in our city, fueled by a passion to collaboratively improve ... Empowering: We amplify community voices and provide vital information to spark ...]
Oseye Boyd: This is how we are evolving.
[Oseye Boyd is working at a computer.]
Oseye Boyd: thinking about the news just as a service.
[Oseye Boyd is speaking to the camera.]
Oseye Boyd: I think about how are we serving Indianapolis? How are we serving our residents?
[Oseye Boyd is working at a computer.]
Oseye Boyd: So, it's not just
[Oseye Boyd is speaking to the camera.]
Oseye Boyd: journalism is here and you need us. It's also we need you cuz we need you to stay alive.
[Journalists working in the newsroom.]
[Mary Claire Molloy is speaking to the camera.]
Mary Claire Molloy: I definitely think journalism as an industry is changing, but there's always a need for us.
[Journalists working in the newsroom.]
Oseye Boyd: The basics of journalism, no matter what the platform is, the basics, the foundation, is always there. It's still reporting, you know, it's still going boots on the ground.
[Oseye Boyd is speaking to the camera.]
Oseye Boyd: It's still those things that we need to do. It's just changing and evolving with the time.
I want to know, did you know about the ICE flights in Indianapolis airport? What do you think about the ...
[Journalists working in the newsroom.]
[Words appear: A project by: The Media School. Produced by: Jack Bassett.]
[END OF TRANSCRIPT]
Nonprofit newsmaking has emerged as a site for innovation in news sustainability across the country. Local news is an especially vibrant sector. A report from the Institute for Nonprofit News found that the large majority – 83 percent – of local news nonprofits have increased revenues by 10 percent over the last three years. Compared to national and regional news organizations, local news nonprofits were the least likely to report revenue declines as well.
Indiana is on the cusp of more investment in nonprofit news. In late 2025, three Press Forward Local chapters were established in the state: in Lake County, Monroe County, and Indianapolis. This national initiative focuses on fundraising for local journalism. As a result, the infrastructure for nonprofit newsmaking could soon expand in Indiana.
While non-commercial news organizations are nothing new (for example, NPR, PBS, and the Associated Press), a generation of newly founded nonprofit news organizations has emerged in the last decade. These are primarily digital-first news organizations funded by individual donations and foundations.
Indiana is home to several recently established nonprofit news organizations. Most are located in cities: the Indiana Capital Chronicle, Chalkbeat Indiana, and Mirror Indy in Indianapolis, the Capital B in Gary, and the Limestone Post in Bloomington.
Just one – the Owen News in Owen County (population: 21,000) – is in a rural location. Unlike its urban counterparts, the Owen News produces both a print and a digital product after a community needs assessment revealed “overwhelming” demand for a printed newspaper, according to editor Nicole DiCriscio. Since its first publication in 2024, the Owen News’s 4,000 free monthly editions are picked up within days. DiCriscio estimates that the paper could print 10,000 copies without outstripping demand.
The Owen News is not the only recently founded print newspaper in Indiana. In Martinsville, the Morgan County Correspondent, a commercial startup, earned 2,000 subscribers within six months of its launch in 2023.
Finding funding for a rural nonprofit newspaper has proven challenging. For now, the Owen News is supported by grants from the Owen County Community Foundation, advertising sales, and individual donors.
For DiCriscio, working in nonprofit news means that the news will always belong to the community. “What I think is beautiful about nonprofit news is that there is next to no chance of it being sold to a huge media conglomerate,” she said.
Nonprofit news organization are often niche in nature, covering a particular topical area, like Chalkbeat’s focus on education, or a specific geography or audience. The Capital B covers issues in northwest Indiana that primarily affect Black communities. Mirror Indy provides hyperlocal coverage to communities located inside Indianapolis’s I-465 beltway.
Many nonprofit news organizations’ founding stories are steeped in the belief that independent, factual, nonpartisan news helps communities thrive. And communities tend to agree. Surveys of Indiana residents prior to the establishments of both the Owen News and Mirror Indy – communities that in many ways are quite different – demonstrated that people wanted more access to credible information about the news of the day.
“We are here to reflect Indianapolis. That’s why our name is Mirror Indy,” said Oseye Boyd, editor in chief of Mirror Indy, which launched in 2023. “We tell those stories, and there are so many in our city that are often unheard and untold.”
In a commercial environment, journalists are under pressure to produce stories that result in a lot of immediate audience interest. At its worst, this can result in journalism that resembles clickbait: brief, dramatic items that emphasize crime, sports, celebrity, and scandal. It doesn’t leave as much capacity for more in-depth investigations that take time to produce, or reporting that focuses on mundane but critical aspects of government action.
When commercial news organizations were more profitable, they could more easily produce a mix of reporting that served a greater variety of community needs. But in a highly constrained environment for resources, many commercial news organizations have little choice but to pursue reporting that will produce clicks as efficiently as possible.
Additionally, news content that is freely available – not behind a paywall – is more likely to serve the community equitably.
“We are free. There was never a paywall for any of our content,” Boyd said. “We let you read our content because we believe it is vital for us to have a citizenry that is informed and that is engaged civically.”
While nonprofit news can be highly values-driven, in terms of serving community, only time will tell if the model for local newsmaking will succeed. While some startup nonprofit news organizations have thrived over the last decade, some high-profile initiatives have failed, including the Houston Landing in Texas, which shuttered in 2025 after just two years despite receiving $20 million in startup funds.
And small news organizations that are considering transitioning to 501(c)(3) status face challenges, including navigating paperwork, ceding some control to an external board of directors, and perhaps most importantly, finding ethical funders who understand their donations cannot directly influence news content in order to maintain the credibility of the news product.
Ultimately, while nonprofit status is not a one-size-fits-all solution for news organizations seeking sustainability, it is a relatively under-exploited option for newsmaking in Indiana – and one that is poised to grow.
