b'REALIZING OUR FULL JOURNALISTIC POWER THROUGH COLLECTIVE REPORTINGPhoto: Kara Raudenbush, Open Campus MediaAS A NETWORK, INN MEMBERS HAVE ALWAYS SHAREDnewsroomsfromsevenstatesexploredchallenges expertise and innovations, but increasingly, members arecommon to tribal communities across the United Stateswith INN supportcoming together in editorial part- and shared solutions on topics, including the well-kept nershiptoenablecollaborativereporting.Asaresult,secret of how much tribes contribute to regional econo-membersareabletoprovidesustainedandin-depthmies, tribal leaders addressing their economys outsized coverage of essential stories that demand a multitude ofreliance on casinos, and tribal citizens confronting the perspectives and resources that exceed the limits of anyreality that a job can cost more than not having one.single member. All series stories were featured by ICT, and the reach of The most fully realized collaboration to date is INNs Ruralthe story extended far beyond the participant outlets, News Network, a consortium of about 70 nonprofit andwith 41 outlets republishing stories from the series. A nonpartisan news organizations which are, collectively,WaltonFamilyFoundationgrantsupportedparticipa-developing the broadest news alliance reporting on ruraltion from each member. America. Together they offer coverage that provides a more complete picture of what it means to live in ruralOne participant, Oklahoma public radio station KOSU, America today. saidhernewsroomsinitialeffortstocollaboratewith nearbytribalmediaoutletsstruggledtogetoffthe One2022RNNcollaborationwasAttheCrossroads,grounduntil INN got involved. The experience proved which included a series editor from national nonprofitto be so positive that KOSU continues to partner with outlet Indian Country Today (ICT), six other INN mem- tribal outlet Osage News on original reporting.bersandthreetribalmediaoutlets.Together,theseFunders are looking for scale. If KOSU were to go to a big founda-tion and say, fund this collaboration, it wouldnt be at the level of scale that makes it worth their while. But if INN becomes a hub for these kinds of collaborative projects that we are interested in doing anyway, that really lends something to our organization.Rachel HubbardExecutive Director, KOSU13'