The Nebraska Journalism Trust is a news organization that reports on various issues in Nebraska including state politics and abortion access. The nonprofit is affiliated with the Institute for Nonprofit News, a left-of-center network of not-for-profit media organizations.

Background

The Nebraska Journalism Trust was established in April 2021. ¹ The nonprofit covers a wide range of political and policy issues in Nebraska, including LGBT interests, environmental initiatives, critical race theory, abortion access, and elections. ²

The Nebraska Journalism Trust is a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News, a left-of-center network of nonprofit media organizations. ³ The nonprofit emphasizes the importance of integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion policies into its operations. ⁴

The Nebraska Journalism Trust runs Silicon Prairie News, a digital publication focused on business and startup news. The nonprofit also publishes the Flatwater Free Press, an online magazine that features investigative journalism stories in Nebraska. ⁵

Staff

Matt Wynn is the executive director at the Nebraska Journalism Trust. ⁶

Leah Keinama works as the director of civic journalism at the Nebraska Journalism Trust. Leah previously worked as a development intern for Vital Voices Global Partnership. ⁷

Wally Weitz is a board member of the Nebraska Journalism Trust. Wally is also the founder of the Weitz Family Foundation. ⁸

Lynn Roper serves as a board member for the Nebraska Journalism Trust. ⁹

Advocacy

In November 2022, the Nebraska Journalism Trust filed and won a lawsuit against the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy for demanding payment to access public records related to the state’s analysis of nitrate levels in groundwater. In March 2024, the Nebraska Supreme Court overturned the decision. ¹⁰

The nonprofit uses its platform to highlight the implications of policies implemented in Nebraska. These policies include a prohibition on abortions after 12 weeks’ gestation, ¹¹ restrictions on certain adult-themed books in schools, ¹² increased penalties for assaults and gun crimes, ¹³ high rates of asylum denials ¹⁴ , and the refusal of some Nebraskans to take the COVID-19 vaccine. ¹⁵

In March 2024, the Nebraska Journalism Trust organized an event featuring religious and environmental experts to raise awareness about what they claimed to be the “intersection between faith and climate change.” ¹⁶

Partnerships

The Nebraska Journalism Trust signed a content sharing agreement with Montana Free Press, CalMatters, Honolulu Civil Beat, South Dakota News Watch, and the Associated Press to expand coverage of local news ahead of the 2024 election. ¹⁷

Finances

The financial records of the Nebraska Journalism Trust indicate that in 2021, the nonprofit received a total of $750,000 in donations. ¹⁸ This sum included $100,000 from the Sherwood Foundation, which is founded and chaired by Susan A. Buffet, and $150,000, from the Lozier Foundation, a private grantmaking foundation that supports left of center groups in Nebraska. ¹⁹

Between July 2021 to December 2022, the nonprofit received over $2.5 million from 1,490 donors including a 650,000 donation from the Weitz Family Foundation, a private grantmaking foundation run by the Democratic-leaning family of Nebraska investor Wallace Weitz. ²⁰

Additionally, donations of $100,000 each were received from the American Journalism Project, Arnold Ventures, the AIM Institute, and the Sherwood Foundation. ²¹

The Nebraska Journalism Trust was chosen by the American Journalism Project, along with more than 10 other nonprofits, to receive grants ranging from $25,000 to $200,000 for exploring artificial intelligence applications in local news. ²²

The American Journalism Project also donated $1.1 million to the Nebraska Journalism Trust for the nonprofit to grow its team and serve new communities. ²³

In January 2022, the Nebraska Journalism Trust received $1,925 from Humanities Nebraska ²⁴ to explore the current state of journalism in Nebraska. ²⁵

The Nebraska Journalism Trust was one of 11 organizations awarded at least $500,000 ²⁶ by The Invisible Institute, a nonprofit journalism production company based on the South Side of Chicago. ²⁷

In 2024, the Nebraska Journalism Trust received $175,000 from the Weitz Family Foundation to support its online media platform, the Flatwater Free Press. ²⁸

Sponsors

Silicon Prairie News is sponsored by Elevator Spaces, ²⁹ the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development, ³⁰ Do Space, ³¹ Millwork Commons, ³² and the Omaha technology-sector group AIM Institute. ³³

Organizations sponsoring Flatwater Free Press include the American National Bank, ³⁴ Kios, ³⁵ Ho-Chunk, Inc., ³⁶ the Nebraska Community Foundation, ³⁷ and the Platte Institute for Economic Research, a right-leaning nonpartisan public policy think tank. ³⁸

Financials

The financial records of the Nebraska Journalism Trust indicate that in 2022, the nonprofit generated a revenue of $2,093,022 and incurred expenses totaling $633,631. ³⁹

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