April 23, 2021

Bridget Thoreson, an experienced journalist and collaborator, will be INN’s first full-time Member Collaborations Editor, starting on Monday.

She will work with Amplify Collaborations Editor Sharon McGowan and Chief Network Officer Jonathan Kealing to expand the scope and depth of member-led collaborative projects. With Thoreson onboard, INN expects to be able to expand the number of funded editorial collaborations it can manage, increasing the amount of money INN is able to invest in member journalism and providing the sort of hands-on facilitation and project management members said they valued in the most recent member survey.

“I’m excited to serve INN’s incredible member newsrooms by joining forces to spread the impact of their reporting,” Thoreson said. “These newsrooms are tirelessly providing critical information to their communities, and together we can shed light on the most significant challenges facing the public and help find a path forward.”

Thoreson has worked with journalists from 109 news organizations in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. as an engagement consultant at Hearken. Most recently she served as project manager for the Election SOS initiative, which brought together 45 organizations to support more than 1,500 journalists in their 2020 election coverage. She’s a co-author of “The Citizens Agenda,” a guide to generate more inclusive and responsive election coverage. She previously worked as an audience development specialist for eight digital and print brands at a magazine publisher and spent seven years as a reporter and editor at a daily community newspaper.

“Bridget emerged from a truly amazing field of candidates as the person with the passion, the background and commitment to help our members do incredible collaborative projects,” said Kealing. “In addition to that, though, Bridget is a terrific person, skilled journalist and passionate advocate for nonprofit newsrooms who I’m thrilled to have join the team at INN.”

Thoreson’s work has been featured in industry publications including Nieman Lab, The Lenfest Institute, the American Press Institute and the Local Fix. She has spoken at conferences including the Local Media Association Digital Summit, SRCCON, the European Journalism Centre News Impact Summit, the People-Powered Publishing Conference and the Copenhagen TV Festival. She holds a master’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from the Medill School at Northwestern University and a bachelor’s in journalism from Marquette University.

She lives in Wisconsin with her wife, two kids and a toy poodle. If you’d like to reach out to Thoreson, she can be reached at bridget@inn.org. Her first day is April 26.