Logo of Capital B

This week, Capital B announced an ambitious plan to have local journalists in 20 Black communities by 2030. 

Across the country, institutions are making decisions that directly affect the lives of Black residents. Yet the communities most affected by those decisions are the least likely to have access to information that explains how the systems work, who controls them, and what power residents have to respond.

The consequences extend beyond any one community. Important regional and national stories often begin with hyperlocal experiences. Without locally rooted journalists, many stories never reach the wider audience needed to prompt action. As the Black Press turns 200 years old next year, Capital B will bring dedicated, original reporting in places where its absence carries the greatest cost. 

Capital B co-founders Lauren Williams and Akoto Ofori-Atta discuss the company’s 2030 growth plan.

Growing to 20 local markets in three years is an ambitious goal, and we’re often asked how we’ll get there. As philanthropic funding for nonprofit news ebbs and flows, our model as a nonprofit news organization has to be sustainable. But the need for more high quality journalism for Black communities is great and urgent. At Capital B, we believe the solution — and the future of local news — lies in partnership and collaboration. 

To get to 20 communities by 2030, Capital B plans to tackle local coverage in three different ways:

  1. Working with independent local journalists on the ground, offering the operational and editorial support of Capital B’s established news organization (social engagement, editing, finance and administration, fundraising), competitive rates, a budget for community engagement, and the opportunity to publish work on our national platform.
  2. Partnering with existing local newsrooms to hire a shared reporter to cover local Black communities, co-publishing on both platforms.
  3. Where both funding and opportunity exist, building a small news and community engagement operation from scratch. Capital B Augusta, launching next month, is a pilot  of this model. 

We want to hear from you! If you’re an independent journalist interested in working with us to cover your community, a local newsroom that wants to partner, or a funder looking to bring coverage of Black communities to your city or region, email expansion@capitalbnews.org.