States Newsroom (formerly the Newsroom Network) consists of a number of left-of-center media outlets that cover state-level politics and policy and a Washington, D.C. bureau that claims to focus on congressional delegations and key Supreme Court decisions that specifically affect the states.

Before 2019, the Newsroom Network was a fiscally sponsored project of the Hopewell Fund, a left-of-center 501(c)(3) funding and fiscal sponsorship nonprofit managed by the Washington, D.C.-based consultancy firm Arabella Advisors, which manages multiple high-dollar left-leaning philanthropic organizations. ¹ In 2019, States Newsroom re-branded and received independent nonprofit status.

A past job posting by States Newsroom referred to the organization as a “progressive political journalism startup.”²

Washington, D.C. Affiliate

States Newsroom’s website claims to be made up of state-based news outlets and a national bureau in Washington, D.C. that reports on “congressional delegations and key Supreme Court and administrative decisions that affect the states,” yet any links to a website for the D.C. bureau do not exist on the website or the list of affiliates. States Newsroom has a Twitter page that mostly retweets posts from the state affiliate outlets and rarely posts original tweets. ^{3 4 5}

State Affiliates

Arizona Mirror is the Arizona state affiliate of States Newsroom. The Mirror focuses on issues such as immigration, criminal justice and policing, and law and government. The Mirror also covers social liberal issues such as LGBT interests and abortion policy. ⁶

Maine Beacon is a website news outlet and affiliated podcast that covers local politics and social issues in Maine. The Beacon claims to “promote a progressive worldview based on community, fairness and investing in the future.” ⁷

Colorado Independent is the Colorado state affiliate of the Newsroom. The online outlet focuses on promoting left-of-center causes including the impeachment of President Donald Trump, gun control, and environmentalism. Its editor, Susan Greene, has received recognition from left-leaning organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Society of Professional Journalists. ^{8 9}

Florida Phoenix is the Florida state affiliate of the States Newsroom of state media outlets. It covers local politics as well as left-of-center issues in Florida. ^{10 11 12}

Maryland Matters is the Maryland state affiliate of the States Newsroom. The outlet covers the same social justice issues as many of the other affiliated organizations. Maryland Matters focuses mainly on energy and environmental issues, liberal healthcare policy, and education. ¹³

Michigan Advance is the Michigan state affiliate of the States Newsroom. Advance covers racial issues, left-of-center women’s policy, LGBT interests, and immigration. Advance also covers local politics and environmental issues. ¹⁴

Missouri Independent is the Missouri state affiliate of States Newsroom. In 2020, the website wrote extensively about President Trump’s COVID-19 policies and “racial justice.” ¹⁵

NC Policy Watch, as of February 23, 2023, is set to be the future North Carolina affiliate of the States Newsroom by March 1, 2023. Originally a project of think tank North Carolina Justice Center since 2007, negotiations between the States Newsroom and the North Carolina Justice Center led to the project being agreed to become an affiliate of the former. ¹⁶ The move was announced in a joint media release by NC Policy Watch editor and director Rob Schofield, States Newsroom Director and Publisher Chris Fitzsimon, and North Carolina Justice Center Executive Director Reggie Shuford Center. Schofield commented, “Our team of veteran, award-winning journalists has a record of high-impact journalism over the last decade…becoming a fully integrated part of States Newsroom will give us the tools and platform to continue that growth and increase our impact.” ¹⁷ NC Policy Watch employs a team of up to seven journalists that write about policy issues impacting local communities within the state including voting rights, healthcare, LGBTQ and immigration rights, and criminal justice reform. ^{18 19} NC Policy Watch also utilizes a blog website called The Pulse to write about specific policy issues impacting North Carolina residents and elected officials. ²⁰ Rob Schofield, director of NC Policy Watch, has previously worked for several left-leaning organizations including ACLU of Illinois and Migrant Legal Action Program. ^{21 22}

Nevada Current is the Nevada state affiliate of the States Newsroom. The Current covers issues including immigration, national politics, and LGBT interests. ²³

Ohio Capital Journal is the Ohio state affiliate of the States Newsroom. The Capital Journal covers health care, labor issues, education, government, and publishes editorial commentary. ²⁴

Pennsylvania Capital-Star is the Pennsylvania state affiliate of the States Newsroom. The Capital-Star covers as immigration, environmentalism, LGBT rights, and abortion rights. ²⁵

Virginia Mercury is the Virginia state affiliate of the States Newsroom. The Mercury covers local and state politics and issues such as criminal justice reform and environmentalism. ²⁶

In March 2023, public charity PEW Charitable Trusts announced that it would transfer its Stateline news service to be incorporated into States Newsroom along with providing a $3 million grant for the transition process. While it was a project of PEW Charitable Trusts, Stateline covered policy issues and events that impacted more than one state. Such topics for news stories include changing ballot measures, the rise in drug addition in U.S cities, pushes to change traffic and road safety policy, and the amount of legal or health-related infrastructure in rural parts of the country. Stateline executive director Scott Greenberger commented, ““I think this merger with States Newsroom gives us a footprint that no one else can even come close to matching…[w]e’re not just a handful of reporters in odd places.” ²⁷

Criticism

On February 6, 2020, Gabby Deutch, Washington Post correspondent for nonpartisan fact-checking group NewsGuard, criticized States Newsroom in an op-ed for being “launched with the backing of the Hopewell Fund, another liberal dark-money group.” ²⁸ Her article discussed Courier Newsroom, a similar left-wing media project that is supported by infamous left-of-center voter advocacy organization ACRONYM. ²⁹

Leadership

Chris Fitzsimon is the director and publisher for the States Newsroom. Fitzsimon is the founder and previous director of the Common Sense Foundation, a left-of-center think tank based in Raleigh, North Carolina that has been defunct since 2010. He was also founder and director of NC Policy Watch (now a Newsroom affiliate organization) and an author for NC Spin, both left-leaning news outlets that cover state legislatures and local-level policy. ³⁰

Andrea Verykoukis is the deputy director of the States Newsroom. She was previously and author for the Progressive Pulse, a left-leaning legislative blog project of NC Policy Watch. ³¹

Nelle Dunlap is the digital director for the States Newsroom. She previously worked as the media director for NC Policy Watch. ³²

1. “About.” The Newsroom. Accessed April 22, 2019. https://statesnewsroom.com/about/.
2. “States Newsroom Hiring Media Administrative Assistant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 23, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/media-administrative-assistant-at-states-newsroom-1362718370/.
3. “About.” States Newsroom. Accessed April 24, 2019. https://statesnewsroom.com/about/
4. “Twitter User: @statesnewsroom” Twitter.com. Accessed April 24, 2019. https://twitter.com/statesnewsroom
5. “The Affiliates.” States Newsroom. Accessed April 24, 2019. https://statesnewsroom.com/the-affiliates/
6. “Homepage.” Arizona Mirror. Accessed April 23, 2019. https://www.azmirror.com/
7. “About.” Maine Beacon. Accessed April 23, 2019. http://mainebeacon.com/about/
8. “Our Team.” Colorado Independent. Accessed April 23, 2019. https://www.coloradoindependent.com/our-team/
9. “Homepage.” Colorado Independent. Accessed April 23, 2019. https://www.coloradoindependent.com/
10. “Let us educators pack some decent heat!” Diane Roberts, Florida Phoenix. Accessed April 23, 2019. https://www.floridaphoenix.com/2019/04/10/let-us-educators-pack-some-decent-heat/
11. “God Hates a Berkeley.” Diane Roberts, Florida Phoenix. Accessed April 23, 2019. https://www.floridaphoenix.com/2019/04/02/god-hates-a-berkeley/.
12. “About.” Florida Phoenix. Accessed April 23, 2019. https://www.floridaphoenix.com/about/
13. “About.” Maryland Matters. Accessed April 23, 2019. https://www.marylandmatters.org/about/
14. “About.” Michigan Advance.
15. “About.” Missouri Independent. Accessed Nov. 23, 2020. https://missouriindependent.com/about/
16. NCPW Staff. “An important announcement from the North Carolina Justice Center, States Newsroom and NC Policy Watch.” North Carolina Policy Watch, February 23, 2023. https://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2023/02/23/an-important-update-from-the-north-carolina-justice-center-states-newsroom-and-nc-policy-watch/#sthash.2xyG0O4G.dpbs
17. NCPW Staff. “An important announcement from the North Carolina Justice Center, States Newsroom and NC Policy Watch.” North Carolina Policy Watch, February 23, 2023. https://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2023/02/23/an-important-update-from-the-north-carolina-justice-center-states-newsroom-and-nc-policy-watch/#sthash.2xyG0O4G.dpbs
18. “About.” North Carolina Policy Watch, Accessed February 23, 2023. https://ncpolicywatch.com/about/
19. NCPW Staff. “An important announcement from the North Carolina Justice Center, States Newsroom and NC Policy Watch.” North Carolina Policy Watch, February 23, 2023. https://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2023/02/23/an-important-update-from-the-north-carolina-justice-center-states-newsroom-and-nc-policy-watch/#sthash.2xyG0O4G.dpbs
20. “About.” North Carolina Policy Watch, Accessed February 23, 2023. https://ncpolicywatch.com/about/
21. Progressive Pulse Home Page.” NC Policy Watch. Accessed April 23, 2019. http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/
22. “Rob Schofield.” Duke University Forum for Scholars and Publics. Accessed April 23, 2019. https://fsp.trinity.duke.edu/speakers/rob-schofield.
23. “About.” Nevada Current. Accessed April 23, 2019. https://www.nevadacurrent.com/about/
24. “About.” Ohio Capital Journal, ohiocapitaljournal.com/about/.
25. “About.” Pennsylvania Capital-Star. Accessed April 23, 2019. https://www.penncapital-star.com/about/
26. “Homepage.” Virginia Mercury. Accessed April 23, 2019. https://www.virginiamercury.com/
27. Scire, Sarah. “Pew’s Stateline finds a new home with nonprofit States Newsroom.” NiemanLab, March 8, 2023. https://www.niemanlab.org/2023/03/pews-stateline-finds-a-new-home-with-nonprofit-states-newsroom/
28. Deutch, Gabby. “A website wanted to restore trust in the media. It’s actually a political operation.” The Washington Post. February 6, 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/06/is-it-local-journalism-or-just-local-propaganda/
29. Deutch, Gabby. “A website wanted to restore trust in the media. It’s actually a political operation.” The Washington Post. February 6, 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/06/is-it-local-journalism-or-just-local-propaganda/
30. “About: CHRIS FITZSIMON.” The Newsroom. Accessed April 22, 2019. https://statesnewsroom.com/about/.
31. “About: ANDREA VERYKOUKIS.” The Newsroom. Accessed April 22, 2019. https://statesnewsroom.com/about/.
32. “About: NELLE DUNLAP.” The Newsroom. Accessed April 22, 2019. https://statesnewsroom.com/about/.