A mirror and a window. 

After launching in 2022, Capital B’s first few years were characterized by a sense of discovery and possibility. Our staff has worked hard to learn how to best serve and reach audiences, how to build upon success, and how to pivot in the face of challenges. As we grew, we learned that our strength lies in embracing our superpower: serving as both a window and a mirror for Black communities’ experiences in the United States. 

More than any single news outlet in the nation, our local and national reporting authentically reflects the realities facing Black communities back to them, while offering a truthful perspective into the lives of folks living in different locations or circumstances. This analogy resonates deeply with the Capital B team and our partners, and has become the framework through which we view our mission and goals.

So, as Capital B matures, how can our organization be the most effective window and mirror for audiences – uncovering stories that create real impact in the lives of the community members we serve? Well, we have a plan!

What follows is the result of many hours of work, deep reflection, and thoughtfulness from our leadership team, staff, and partners. We have crafted a powerful, affirmative vision for meeting the vast information needs of underrepresented communities, even in the face of external factors that might make our work especially difficult. 

Our Future Starts Now

We’re thrilled to share our three-year strategic plan, which is a road map for how our uniquely valuable and ambitious news organization can continue making an impact on a local and national level, while future-proofing ourselves for changes we can’t control. 

This plan has inspired our team and partners, and has fostered a deep, shared understanding of how a news organization like ours will chart a bold course for Black news. We hope that this plan instills in you that same sense of trust and excitement for Capital B’s bright future, and that you’ll join us for the ride.

The five strategic pillars of Capital B’s three-year plan are:

Graphic: "Building an Algorithm-Proof Audience"

From the beginning, Capital B set out to serve Black audiences across the information spectrum: those who follow the news yet rarely see themselves in it, and those — especially in our local markets — who might not seek out news but who value reliable, accessible, community-centered information. Today, that purpose has sharpened. Whether in a big northern city, the rural South, Atlanta, or Gary, Indiana, our readers share a through line: they want change. The status quo is unacceptable. They want to understand why inequality endures, how it shapes Black life, and what could make it better.

The next three years belong to these change seekers. We’ll deepen ties with those already in our orbit and reach new ones nationwide, measuring success by the growth of “loyal change seekers” who return each month — reading and sharing our journalism, attending events, subscribing to newsletters, engaging on social platforms, and listening to our audio. 

But this work is harder now: Social platforms control discovery and deemphasize news, attention is splintered, and AI is remaking how information moves. Our answer is to build an algorithm-proof community, online and off. We’ll meet people beyond the internet by:

  • Supersizing our “Capital B Offline” offerings, such as print, texting, and focus groups 
  • Expanding events that convene audiences (including the politically disconnected)
  • Redefining newsroom partnerships to include influencers, civic groups, and more
  • Reaching people with bold, inventive projects that connect our online work with in-person interactions 
Graphic: "Local News Where It's Needed Most"

Local news is disappearing at a rapid pace, and the consequences are real: Local journalism drives civic participation, tempers partisanship, and counters unethical content that floods our feeds.

But the crisis is uneven. Many nonprofit startups — meant to answer the collapse — cluster in major metros, where audiences and funders are easier to reach. Vast swaths of the country, especially rural and economically disadvantaged places, are left behind.

According to Northwestern University’s Local News Initiative, in 2024, 13% of news deserts sat in what the American Communities Project calls the “African American South” — 272 counties from Virginia to Texas with a median Black population of 43%. Compared with national averages, these counties have lower incomes, lower voter turnout, less broadband, and higher child poverty.

We plan to expand our local network to serve deep news deserts like these, filling information gaps and building a more trusted news ecosystem. Our networked model will sustain Capital B newsrooms in regions where standalone startups struggle. In service of this goal, we’ll:

  • Invest in research and testing to determine the best local markets to pursue
  • Hire local to establish trust with audiences and to create jobs for local residents 
  • Build new local news offerings in two additional markets
  • Explore acquisitions and mergers in local markets where need and audience are aligned
  • Expand rural offerings, building upon the success of Capital B’s rural beat to find more ways to reach remote and rural communities 
Graphic: "Supporting a New Generation of Local Journalists"

In a Pew Research survey of Black news consumers, 68% say it’s important that news on race come from Black journalists, and 55% say the same is true when it comes to local news. The supply does not meet the demand — as of 2022, just 6% of working journalists were Black. Research from the University of Texas’s Center for Media Engagement found many Black news consumers had never met a journalist, didn’t know how to contact one, and felt coverage of their neighborhoods lacked context. These survey results echo the anecdotal evidence we’ve gathered in our conversations with readers. There are serious gaps between how Black people actually experience their communities, how those communities are portrayed in the media, and who is doing the portraying. These gaps erode accountability and trust, and leave communities unseen, unheard, and underserved.

To build trust and deliver news that reflects lived experience more fully, the industry must increase the number of journalists who can competently report on all communities, with deep understanding of those they cover. In places where local news has contracted and economies are stalled, local recruits with prior journalism experience are scarce. And it can be difficult to convince experienced journalists from elsewhere to relocate to these areas. This is both a challenge and an opportunity for Capital B — we can help create and coach talent, and rebuild a pipeline of local journalists. With more philanthropic support, Capital B can train residents to become full-time reporters. Over the next three years, we’ll serve audiences while expanding the pipeline of community-competent journalists, strengthening the field, investing in our local markets, and rebuilding trust. To do that, we will:

  • Develop and launch a robust internal training program that trains local community members — journalism experience not required — to serve their own communities as full-time Capital B journalists 
  • Create curriculum for coaching and professional development of existing staff, allowing for growth at all experience levels 
  • Distribute course material and learnings to partners and peers in the local journalism community
Graphic: "Journalism That Changes Lives"

In Atlanta, our reporting on hazardous conditions in a housing complex led to long-overdue repairs Black residents had needed for years. “No one was paying attention to us until Capital B showed up,” a resident said.

This is why Capital B exists: to create real, lasting impact in Black communities. The stakes are rising as the social and political landscape shifts. Rollbacks of civil rights protections, weakened environmental rules that disproportionately harm Black neighborhoods, and efforts to curb voting rights threaten to deepen inequality in housing, health care, education, and criminal justice — often under policies that dismiss our needs.

In uncertain times, Capital B’s journalism will be a trusted watchdog and resource. We will ensure Black communities have the information to navigate policies that endanger their rights and well-being. Our reporting will continue to drive change: holding the powerful to account, equipping communities with tools for civic action, sharing actionable solutions, and ultimately improving lives. All while building upon a legacy of journalism that’s transformative for Black communities. To realize this vision, we’ll:

  • Pursue accountability with robust investigations, expanding our journalistic focus to include more accountability and investigative reporting
  • Build out under-covered beats, combining our investigative power with newly established beats on important and under-reported areas of Black life
  • Secure ambitious reporting partnerships, pursuing collaborations that enhance the depth and reach of our work
  • Double down on community-informed service journalism, informing and empowering our audience with practical knowledge to navigate their communities 
Graphic: "Transformational Fundraising"

Capital B’s ambitious plans to deepen our journalism in existing markets, grow our community engagement practice, create a pipeline of trained local journalists, and expand into new local markets where we’re most needed require an equally ambitious revenue approach. 

As a nonprofit, diversifying revenue isn’t only about durability; it safeguards our editorial independence, putting us in stark contrast to news organizations that answer to media conglomerates or a single owner looking to serve other interests. Right now, with a target on organizations that serve diverse communities, it’s crucial to find the kind of support that will underscore and protect our mission.

In our first three years, we built the scaffolding for increasing our earned revenue, membership, and major-donor work. Now we’ll turn groundwork into growth. Over the next three years, we will expand and diversify revenue annually, with a focused pipeline across four buckets: institutional philanthropy, major giving, memberships, and sponsorship revenue. We will also raise seed funding to launch two new newsrooms and strengthen local donor portfolios in our existing markets.

Our goal is to be a model for nonprofit media, proving that growth and sustainability can advance together while keeping the mission front and center.

To sustain Capital B well into the future, and to support our plans, we will:

  • Deepen local support, building partnerships on the strength of community connections, engagement, and impact 
  • Strategically diversify revenue to engage more individual supporters, increase reader revenue, and invest in expanding our local advertising opportunities 
  • Build brand awareness, investing in marketing and creative opportunities to expand recognition and understanding of Capital B’s mission
  • Pursue innovative business development opportunities, seeking out business prospects that help us monetize our unique approach to journalism. 

Our plans are ambitious, and we can’t accomplish them alone. From the beginning, our readers and supporters have helped drive our work, our impact, and the vision you see here. We’ll need you to get to the next level, too. To ensure Capital B, and Black news, is here to stay, support this plan with a gift to Capital B. For more ways to donate, visit our Support Us page. 

Special thanks to Capital B’s staff, board members, and strategic partners for participating in the discovery, design, and refinement of this strategic plan. The planning process was expertly steered from start to finish by Jean Friedman-Rudovsky and Cassie Haynes, who were instrumental in helping our team create a solid and actionable roadmap for our future.