Methods & Definitions

Our research team’s methods and defined terms are explained below. Please email any questions to INN’s researcher Ha Ta at ha@inn.org.

METHODS

About the survey: INN distributed the Index survey online in January 2026 to 471 INN Network newsrooms, excluding service organizations that are also INN members. Ninety-three percent, or 437 organizations, completed the survey. Survey responses reflect performance in the calendar year 2025. Previous years’ surveys were generally representative of INN Network newsrooms, with response rates ranging from 54% to 94%. Starting in 2020, INN began requiring outlets participating in NewsMatch to complete the Index survey, which raised completion rates for subsequent surveys. The survey language is provided here. The data do not scientifically represent all North American nonprofit news outlets because not all of them belong to INN, including an array of public media stations. Cautiously interpret specific year-over-year comparisons; this report draws directional trends across the nonprofit news field.

A note on the cohort used for this report: The Index tracks parent organizations rather than individual publications under the same parent. In cases where an organization produces multiple outlets, we collect data only from the parent organization. This report includes the data of 412 of the 437 news organizations that completed the survey. Three outlets were excluded because they are not primarily publishers. Chapters 1 through 5 of this report exclude data provided by 22 members from the public media sector due to systematic differences in how they report revenue and expenses. Chapter 6 presents data exclusively from those 22 outlets. 

The year-over-year revenue analysis portion in Chapter 3 excluded nine startup organizations, all younger than one year, as they did not have annual data to compare. Another six organizations did not provide revenue data. Thus, the revenue section of the report is based on the information provided by 397 outlets. 

The year-over-year audience analysis portion in Chapter 5 reflects all outlets that reported complete audience data — either web visitors or newsletter subscribers — for 2024 and 2025. Sample sizes vary slightly by metric, depending on data availability in each year: 

• 345 outlets provided complete web visitor data for both years.
• 338 outlets provided complete newsletter subscriber data for both years.

A note on medians vs. averages vs. ranges: The Index authors believe median calculations are more representative due to several significant outliers that skew averages. However, we can’t calculate the median for some survey questions, like the average donation in dollars, because we do not have a list of relevant data points. In these cases, we default to averages. We supply a range of cases where knowing the upper and lower limits of a data point helps with understanding the field. 

A note on the representativeness of the INN Index sample:

The Index began in 2017 as a tool to capture the state of INN’s membership. As the network has grown, however, the Index has become increasingly representative of the broader nonprofit news field, reflecting the expanding diversity of INN’s membership and consistently higher survey response rates. 

To assess how well the Index sample represents that broader field, we identified 115 nonprofit news outlets operating outside the INN Network (excluding public media) and compared their characteristics with those of the 376 outlets included in the 2024 Index. Together, these account for roughly 77% of the known nonprofit news sector.

To compile this comparison dataset, we drew on established industry resources including The LION Publishers’ Project Oasis database and INN’s own membership data, supplemented by ongoing monitoring of the field and publicly available sources such as IRS Form 990 filings and outlet websites.

When we compare non-member outlets with Index respondents across key characteristics, the distributions are broadly similar. Local outlets make up 56% of non-members and 51% of INN members; state and regional outlets account for 23% and 26%, respectively; and national and global outlets represent 21% and 24%. The outlet age distribution is similarly close, with startups founded between 2021 and 2023 comprising 24% of non-members and 19% of INN members. These modest differences are consistent with those found in comparable efforts, including Pew Research Center’s 2013 survey of nonprofit news outlets, which found only minor variation between respondents and the broader population on three measures. 

We are therefore confident that findings from the Index can be reasonably generalized to the wider nonprofit news field, not just INN’s own membership.

DEFINITIONS

• People of color: This is an extrapolated category that we have defined, for this report, as encompassing individuals who identify with a racial or ethnic category other than white, including multiracial.
• Core group of digital-first, independent publishers: This term refers to the digital-first outlets that are not public broadcasters. For chapters 1 through 5, the research team excluded financial data from the two dozen public broadcasting INN members due to systematic differences in how they report revenue and expenses. Chapter 6 presents data exclusively from these 27 outlets. 
• Direct audiences: Direct audiences use and engage with a news outlet’s platforms, including its website, email newsletters and social media platforms. Direct audiences are largely interpreted in this report as a news organization’s web traffic (measured by average monthly unique visitors) and its number of email newsletter subscribers. 
• Earned revenue: Earned revenue is the funds a nonprofit organization generates by providing value to businesses, including events, sponsorship, advertising and underwriting. This contrasts with funds received from philanthropic sources, such as grants and major gifts. Earned revenue is one of the three major revenue streams for nonprofit news. 
• Foundations: Foundations are nonprofit organizations that support charitable activities to serve the common good. Foundation funding is one of three major revenue streams for nonprofit news. 
• FTE: full-time equivalents, referring to both salaried employees (including staff, executives and managers) and significant contractors. We count FTE for all paid personnel rather than individual staff members. A full-time employee working 40 hours a week is one FTE; a half-time employee working 20 hours is 0.5 FTE.
• Global news: Global organizations cover broad world topics or produce news about a country or region outside of the United States. 
• Individual giving: This umbrella term encompasses financial contributions from individuals, including small-dollar (less than $1,000), mid-level ($1,000 – $5,000) and major donors (more than $5,000). Survey respondents use these shared definitions for their Index survey reporting. Individual giving is one of the three major revenue streams for nonprofit news. 
• Local news: Local news organizations cover part or all of a community, municipality or county, or a cluster of them, ranging from large metro areas to neighborhoods. 
• National news: National organizations focus on public affairs issues that affect, in this context, the United States, except for two survey respondents in Canada. 
• Regional news: Regional news outlets cover news within two or more states or parts of states making up a region, such as the Midwest. 
• State news: State news outlets primarily focus on government policy, politics or topics of public interest, such as health or the environment, in one state. 
• Third-party audiences: This term refers to audiences interacting with a news outlet’s coverage or services but on a platform not managed by the news outlet itself. We refer to the organizations managing these external platforms as “third-party publishers.” Third-party audiences largely come from other news outlets republishing or rebroadcasting content, including on social media and other digital platforms.