Brand Story

Cofounder Cassie Young was soaring in her career in government research and innovation when she began hearing from peers that they learned more from her social media accounts than from the local news. She realized people were hungry to understand what was going on in Columbus and that her work in government and community organizing wouldn’t go as far if people were starved for information about their own communities. With no journalism background, she set out to figure out how to build a local news outlet.

While gaining experience on a documentary-style shoot, she met local freelance journalist and cofounder Jaelynn Grisso. Grisso was frustrated that it didn’t seem journalists were doing enough to get out from behind their desks and talk to real people. She had formerly worked in for major investigative news outlets like Mother Jones as well as a local news publication in Honolulu, and was now freelancing in Columbus. When the two met, she was considering moving away because she was feeling like there weren’t any Columbus outlets doing the work she wanted to do.

The pair hit it off as they discussed angles of Young’s then indie documentary project: Columbus, Ohio’s development. They decided to stick to a nonprofit model to maintain editorial independence. Additionally, they decided to create a "deep dive model", in which Matter investigates an issue of local importance with multimedia content. So, they turned Young's project into their first investigation into Columbus' growth and development: DevelopUS.

Shortly after, cofounder Marisa Twigg published a photo journalism piece about poverty in Columbus neighborhoods in the Lantern. Cassie promptly contacted her and luckily, Marisa was working for ENGIE (a global energy provider) and graduating from the Ohio State University with a degree in environmental policy and decision-making, where she had also had taken journalism courses.

The synergy between their vision and passion for what local media could and should be was undeniable and they immediately began building nonprofit organization Grey Matter Media and its news publication Matter. They mapped out an intentional model which insulates Matter from the pitfalls of traditional news media. They assembled a team of passionate volunteers and began publishing content about development in central Ohio in November 2018. In January 2020, Matter raised enough donations to began paying its team.