Staff & Leadership

By Michele McLellan

INN members continue to grow their capacity, though staffing gains remain modest and leadership challenges persist

A roundup of important statistics in this chapter: 

• INN member outlets (excluding public media)¹ together employed an estimated 4,650 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees.
• The median staff size of an INN member outlet is 5.5 FTEs.
• 4 in 10 outlets report at least one executive of color out of the three top executives.
• More than half (53%) of all executives of color lead outlets that primarily serve communities of color.
• 27% of the top three executives at nonprofit news outlets are people of color² — a notable increase from 19% in 2019.  

In 2024, INN member outlets employed an estimated 4,650 staff, with about 70% working in editorial or news-related roles — only a slight increase from the prior year. 

The typical newsroom is lean, with a median staff size of 5.5 FTEs.

An organization’s staff size is largely dictated by the age and geographic scope of its news coverage

Local outlets tend to have about four people on staff, whereas national or global organizations have a median staff size of 9.5, ranging from no paid staff to 200 FTEs. Unsurprisingly, startup outlets in their first three years of operation often have a lower count of staffers — usually between one to three people.

Representation of people of color in top leadership roles has grown

Leadership teams are quite small. We asked publishers to provide the gender and race of up to three top executives in their organization. About half (48%) listed only one or two executives.

Women continue to hold a majority of executive roles (53%) at news outlets in INN’s sample. This runs counter to media industry trends: A recent Reuters Institute study of top editorial positions showed that women hold only 38% of these jobs and their presence has dipped in recent years. 

Representation of people of color in top leadership roles has grown. As of 2024, 27% of the top three executives at nonprofit news outlets are people of color³ — a notable increase from 19% in 2019.  

Four in 10 outlets (42%) report at least one executive of color out of the three top executives, and representation is highest at outlets that center their journalism on communities of color.

More than half (53%) of all executives of color lead outlets that primarily serve communities of color — even though these organizations represent only about one-fifth of the field overall.

Leadership turnover and succession is another challenge

Burnout among journalism managers has been a persistent issue, and the financial impact of turnover is steep. Between 2022 and 2024, 38% of nonprofit newsrooms experienced at least one leadership turnover. Yet only 14% report having a succession plan in place — a concerning gap for organizations that often rely heavily on a founder or central leader. Replacing a single staff member can cost more than twice their annual salary, according to Gallup estimates, highlighting the need for not just resilience, but also sustainable strategies for leadership development and retention.

INN members can jump to our Pods benchmarks for more on staffing counts. View the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Index Report for more demographic data of the people behind nonprofit news and the most common equity and inclusion practices across the sector. 

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¹ This report draws on data from 376 of the 407 news organizations that completed the Index survey. We excluded data from 27 public media members because of systematic differences in how they report revenue and expenses, as well as four outlets that are not primarily publishers. See more in Methodology. 

²  This is an extrapolated category that we have defined, for the purposes of this report, as encompassing individuals who identify with a racial or ethnic category other than white, including multiracial.

³ This is an extrapolated category that we have defined, for the purposes of this report, as encompassing individuals who identify with a racial or ethnic category other than white, including multiracial.