Our Mission
The Granite State News Collaborative is a statewide multimedia news collaborative that draws on and amplifies the strengths of its members to expand and add missing dimensions to coverage of issues of concern to the NH public as a whole, as well as to particular communities. Through coordinated reporting and engagement activities, the Collaborative will pursue inclusive and responsive coverage that builds public trust and holds government accountable to its citizens.
““When I brought the idea of a news collaborative to some of my colleagues last year, the response was heartening, and in a few short months, we’ve created something new and exciting for New Hampshire,””
The Granite State News Collaborative is a collective of more than 20 local media, education and community partners working together to produce and share news stories on the issues that most impact our state.
The hope is that together we can provide more information to more communities across New Hampshire than we could individually.
Simply put, as leaders in our communities, we’ve collectively agreed that some things are too important to let competition get in the way of people accessing the vital information they need.
We’re in a time when this has never been more important. As misinformation and distrust spreads like a sickness, local news is an antidote.
We know that when people have access to news and information about their towns, cities and state, they can hold the powerful accountable, advance solutions and work with one another to build the communities and future they want to see. A strong local news ecosystem is essential to a healthy, thriving and civically engaged community.
What we do and how we help:
As an organization, The Granite State News Collaborative exists to keep our local news outlets not only alive, but thriving. We do this by providing resources to our local outlets that fill the gaps created by years of cutbacks, layoffs and a changing industry. All of our services are free to member outlets, however all members contribute in kind time and resources.
In just the last few years, we have been able to invest more than $420,000 in reporting resources that strengthen our partner local news outlets statewide and benefit their communities.
We do this by:
Helping member outlets co-report, coordinate and share coverage of the major issues impacting the state through our shared news exchange and project management services.
Helping news outlets cross-publish these stories so that people in every corner of the state have access to more trustworthy, data-driven information.
Providing outlets with access to a team of experienced investigative freelance reporters that work directly with our partner outlets, to produce in-depth, investigative, accountability and solutions-focused stories, series and projects for our local news members to publish and broadcast for their communities.
Training local community members and students in how to cover local municipal meetings. This helps fill reporting gaps newsrooms face and in turn gets these important stories out to communities who need the information.
Working with student, emerging and freelance journalists to help stock the local newsroom pipeline with a rigorously trained and vetted reporting force.
Connecting partner newsrooms with news and information produced by nonpartisan community groups, which serves to bring new and diverse voices into the public conversation.
Providing free professional development training to newsrooms inside and outside our partnership, particularly in the areas of DEI and best practices for covering traditionally marginalized communities.
Got questions? Want to Partner? Contact GSNC Director Melanie Plenda at melanie.plenda@collaborativenh.org.
Feel like supporting our mission to keep local news strong? You can donate to the cause here. We are a fiscally sponsored nonprofit. Which means we can only do what we do because of the generosity and care from people like you. With all of us working together, a little bit goes a long way!