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• • And encourage others to too

KEEP IT SHORT, SWEET, + STRATEGIC

It has been shown that when people are told about 2 things, they are more likely to donate to nonprofit news.

• the financial situation of the news industry

• how local journalism supports a healthy democracy

  • • (see facts below on these)

C H E A T C O D E: Share our about video - it's a classic and it talks about the overarching problems + what we do to resolve them

FACTS ABOUT THE NEWS INDUSTRY

• Franklin County lost 63% of its newspaper jobs from 2004-2017.

• Among elderly, middle-aged, and young: the elderly are the most likely age to pay for news subscriptions, while young people are the most likely to donate to news organizations and pay for memberships.

• Americans who consume local news are more politically engaged.

• Americans take pride in their local newspaper: 59% see it as an important symbol of civic pride in their community.

• 73% of Americans consider news media bias to be “a major problem”

• More than 8/10 Americans believe the news is important “critical” or “very important” to democracy

• 44% of Americans think the news media is performing poorly at providing objective news reports.

• 86% of Americans currently see “a great deal” or a “fair amount” of political bias in news coverage.

• Government inefficiencies, taxes, and county deficits grow when a newspaper closes its doors.

  • 2018 study published in the Journal of Financial Economics

• Since 2014, 30% of Ohio’s newspapers have changed ownership.

  • UNC Media Deserts report

• 5 of the nation’s largest news chains own nearly 120 newspapers in Ohio

  • UNC Media Deserts report

• The largest newspaper company in the U.S. owned a handful of Ohio's newspapers before 2015, and now owns 61.

  • UNC Media Deserts report

• Communities of color are more likely to rely on local news sources for information their daily lives than white communities.

  • Pew Research Center.

SUMMARIZE WHAT WE DO

Matter is a digital news source for all of us who receive too much information and not enough context. We investigate the most pressing issues in Columbus and share the stories we find in videos, articles, podcasts, games and more. We are also one of the only locally-owned, nonprofit, and independent news outlets in Columbus, and most importantly, our content is free and accessible.

C H E A T C O D E: Share our about video - it's a classic and it talks about the overarching parts of our model.

COMMUNICATE WHAT WE ARE ALL ABOUT

Our mission is to empower people to be informed community members through innovative, investigative journalism covering the most pressing issues affecting central Ohio.

Our vision is to inspire equitable and sustainable community engagement in the greater central Ohio region.

Matter is primarily funded by small donors, 140 of whom are members who give to Matter monthly. We are secondarily funded by grants.

We take multimedia deep dives into the most pressing issues in Columbus, only investigating a couple at a time so that we can come subject matter experts and create a body of work that gives a deeper and wider context for the root causes and promising solutions to our biggest problems. Our work is a mix of explanatory, investigative, and human interest coverage and we seek to provide it in different and accessible formats. We are the antithesis to the 24-hours news cycle, prioritizing getting the nuance of the story over getting it out quick.

How we are unique

• • Our organization is:

  • Nonprofit

  • Locally-owned, operated, and focused

  • Grounded in the community

  • Run by Millennial women, some of whom identify as LGBT

  • Our board, volunteers, and contributors reflect the diversity of Columbus

• Our content is:

  • Accessible

  • Humanizing

  • Investigative

  • Multimedia

  • Digital

  • Innovative

  • Deep and contextualized

  • Impactful

  • Public accountability-driven

HIGHLIGHT OUR HIGH-IMPACT JOURNALISM

We have 2 open deep dive investigations and we release a magazine-like issue every other month with a bundle of stories from 1 of the 2:

• DevelopUS

  • Intersecting topics: economic development, housing, transportation, neighborhoods).

  • Noteworthy content:

    1. 1. Developers gave over $440K to city officials in 4 years (written with interactive data)

       2. How one neighborhood grappled with history and building the future (mini documentary)

       3. Revitalization or displacement: What is gentrification really? (written explainer)

       4. Economic Segregation Map (interactive data map)

• Crossing the Line

  • Intersecting topics: policing, racism, human rights abuses

  • Noteworthy content:

    1. 1. Protest Coverage (on Instagram, viewed nationwide)

       2. Before Columbus' mass Floyd protests, there was Christopher Radden (short video)

       3. Here's exactly what Columbus Police used to gas protesters (written)

       4. No, the Columbus civilian review board won’t review Goodson's case (written)

       5. Quinlan stalled police reforms he opposed, leaked document shows (written)

       6. Columbus police falsely reported progress on promised reforms (written)

       7. Who's Who in the Cases of Casey Goodson and Andre Hill (interactive)

WE SPURRED REAL PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY

In March 2021, the day before we were set to publish Edie's piece that included leaked documents showing Police Chief Quinlan stalled reforms he personally opposed, Quinlan was suddenly demoted by the Mayor. We don't think that's a coincidence.

In the second part, Edie exposed, to CPD's public information officer himself, that their public facing accountability dashboard existed - let alone was inaccurate.

This is the kind of exposure of corruption that drives public accountability, and that that is the bread and butter of what we do and where our vision (stated above) comes true: we give the public - and even sometimes public officials - the information they need to act. That's that civic engagement we love to see!

and IMPACTED PEOPLE'S LIVES DIRECTLY

Our biggest measure of success is the impact we have on people. The most telling feedback we've received in regards to the impact we've had is from a woman with PTSD who said our protest coverage made her feel safer: "I always know what’s going on and I know if something is going on, your team is there ... As a Black woman living here, it’s a really scary place to be sometimes so again, I just really value you and your team." She also became a monthly donor.

the community voiced their support

Our work has garnered praise from those ranging from residents in the neighborhoods we’ve covered to activists, to famous poets, to government officials.

The former director of development for the City of Columbus thanked us for our explainer on area commissions, stating that “educating residents on issues this complex is one of our ongoing challenges”.

Activists have told us that our coverage compels them to act, which was our intention in creating Matter to begin with. Community organizers appreciate our livestream coverage and our explanatory and investigative content related to issues of community importance.

Even famous poets like Saeed Jones and Hanif Abdurraqib have tweeted their concerns with mainstream outlets like the Dispatch and their support of independent local news, specifically naming Matter.

And other journalists have said that they were excited to see that a "local group is finding a model that works and being completely authentic in their approach."

AND THEY put their money where their moutH is

WE DOUBLED OUR MEMBERSHIP IN 2020

(140 people now invest in Matter monthly)

WE TRIPLED OUR SMALL DONOR FUNDRAISING IN 1 YEAR

(during our annual NewsMatch fundraiser)

Nov-dec 2019

$4,412 raised by us from our donors

+

a matching grant of $11,395

for a grand total of $15,807.

------------------------------------------

nov-dec 2020

$15,000 is what we raised from our donors (twice what we expected!)

+

got us the maximum $17,000 match including bonuses

for a grand total of $32,000