b'EXPANDING ACCESS TO TRUSTED NEWSPhoto: Noelle Haro-GomezWHENINNLAUNCHED,THEREWEREONLYAFEWBut they, like many others, needed help getting started, dozen nonprofit newsrooms in Americaand they wereand so they became provisional INN members even before largely isolated. Today INN counts more than 400net- they began publishing. They used INNs Startup Guide to worked members, and we added 60 more in 2022 alone.set priorities and leaned on Network Philanthropy Director Backedbyarobustsuiteofservices,peeradviceandStephanie Schenkel for wealth screening and fundraising professional coaching, more than 90% of INN memberssupport. Guided by INN, McKisson says they put effort into survive their startup phases and emerge ready to grow.lots of stuff you cant seelike a membership program, These newsrooms are improving access to news in cities,an underwriting program and a major donor base. towns, suburbs and rural communities. These strategic investments have paid off. When Arizona A critical focus is places like southern Arizona where, asLuminaria launched in early 2022, it could support one veteran journalist Irene McKisson puts it, there are notfull-time staffer, but within a year the team had grown to enough journalists left on the ground to help people get4.5 FTE employees, including three Spanish speakers. The the information they need. When McKisson and Beckynet result? A region thirsty for more substantive, compre-Pallack left the Arizona Daily Star in 2021, they wanted to fillhensive reporting is supported by an increasingly robust gaps in civic news coverage. With Pulitzer Prize-winningnews team.journalist Dianna Nez, they founded Arizona Luminaria to provide actionable information to both English- and Spanish-speaking communities across their region.Launchinganewsorganizationfeltoverwhelmingwhenwedidnt know how to take the first step. INN helped us taskify the process of starting up a news business. We needed to break it down and figure out, whats my first task? Whats the next step? This is journalism, but you have to think about it as a business. Your responsibility is to the people you hire and the communities you serve.Irene McKissonCo-founder and Executive Director, Arizona Luminaria8'