Matter Ventures

Gatehouse Media (Florida), publisher of local newspapers As I mentioned in my post about our Mizzou Boot Camp, I started my career at the Holland Sentinel, which is now owned by Gatehouse Their publications reach an incredibly large number of people as the local paper of their community The team for Georgia comes from Gatehouse’s corporate side, as well as leaders from their papers in Daytona Beach, Lakeland, Sarasota, Palm Beach, and Jacksonville, Florida

CNHI, publisher of more than 100 local newspapers We’ve had the pleasure of knowing and working with CNHI as a partner of Matter’s for several years now, and we’re thrilled to be able to deepen our impact with them They own more than 100 newspapers in 22 states and are based in Montgomery, Alabama Thanks to Open Matter, more of their team will be able to train and apply their learning throughout the chain Their team of five come to us from CNHI itself, as well as publications in Texas, Massachusetts, and Indiana

American City Business Journals, covering business where it happens It’s all-too easy to break the news ecosystem into what’s local by geography, and then what’s vertical and therefore national and global But business is local, too Inherently local, even for global businesses And American City Business Journals is a major lens for how people understand the business environment around them They publish 43 business publications covering 43 distinct metropolitan areas We’re thrilled to welcome them to Georgia

Cox Media Group, Atlanta’s news source Atlanta is the Empire City of the South — the center of industry, news, and entertainment alike It’s only appropriate, then, that we welcome Cox Media Group for our Georgia bootcamp Cox owns six newspapers and dozens of TV and radio stations, including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, WSB in Atlanta, and WGAU in Athens They are the largest news source in the largest market in the region We’re proud to include their Atlanta-based team in our group

Berkeleyside, an innovative news publisher and events company Many see a potential new revenue stream for local news organizations of all kinds in hosting events in the community Few have realized it so successfully as Berkeleyside with Uncharted, the Berkeley Festival of Ideas, hosted each fall and bringing together world-class thinkers and doers We’re excited to welcome their team to our Berkeley Open Matter

Mission Local, award-winning hyperlocal publication Originally started at the Berkeley School of Journalism, Mission Local is the definitive news source for San Francisco’s Mission District, covering its many changes and breaking news since 2008 Like Berkeleyside and past participant Spirited Media, they’re part of a movement of built-from-scratch new local publications that are starting from the bottom-up and validating their model and experiments as they scale

Gatehouse Media Ohio Like their Florida colleagues, the teams from the Ohio wing of Gatehouse represent many corners of a major state They represent Columbus, Canton, and regional coverage of all Ohio As a Great Lakes region transplant myself, I’m excited to see them out here by the Bay

Mt Angel Publishing, community news in the Oregon countryside Open Matter has been home to every scale of local news organization, from hyperlocal digital-only publications to major metros Having been an editor of a community weekly, however, I’m glad to see the category represented in Mt Angel, which publishes a wide variety of publications based in Silverton and Stayton, Oregon Serving those two towns, each with fewer than 10,000 residents, and their surrounding areas is an important and essential part of the news ecosystem

Reno Gazette-Journal, chronicler of the biggest little city in the world Reno, Nevada is a fascinating and fast-changing city Its population has grown by more than 30% since 2000 and now sits near 250,000 And the Gazette-Journal has covered its growth, economy, and population throughout I’m thrilled they’ll be traveling over the Sierras to see us down here by the water

Whereby us, digital-first publishing for curious locals Arriving in a new place is a challenge What does it take to become a real local? That’s the problem Whereby us set out to solve as it set itself up, first in Miami, with support from the Knight Foundation, and now Seattle, Portland, and Orlando I had the pleasure of meeting their CEO Christopher Sopher a few years ago, and I’m excited to welcome the team as they plan their future growth

What an incredible group! The entire first wave of Open Matter has been a remarkable journey with great participants, hosts, and, of course, partners It’s been the honor of my life to lead this effort for Matter, and I can’t wait to welcome all these teams to Berkeley and Georgia next week to wrap up this cycle

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The 2023 Sulzberger Fellows