Baltimore is facing a crisis of journalism. Because no one can make enough money distributing the news they report, no one has enough money to report the news we need. And we live in what ex-newspaperman David Simon has called a “golden age of corruption.”
The Baltimore Institute for Nonprofit Journalism (BINJ) is a guerrilla newsroom raiding the ruins of corporate media and fixing Baltimore’s media desert.
BINJ was founded by Baynard Woods, Brandon Soderberg, and Marc Steiner in response to the dearth of progressive media in Baltimore following the end of The Marc Steiner Show on WEAA and the imminent closure of the Baltimore City Paper. BINJ addresses this problem by raising money to pay freelance journalists to investigate issues and institutions affecting the city and distributing the stories to already-existing independent outlets—at first, one story at a time and eventually, we hope, by funding entire beats and reporters.
Based on the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, BINJ Baltimore is a fast-moving nonprofit (operating under the fiscal sponsorship of the Center for Emerging Media). We don’t want to buy a building or rent an office or pay a big staff. All the money we raise—except processing fees and that sort of bullshit—goes to producing journalism. We're looking to support the talent here that is overlooked, rejected or left undeveloped by the media landscape.
With the first $1000 we raise, we will fund stories written by students working with Writers in Baltimore Schools. BINJ Baltimore is also funding a longform, multimedia feature story on street basketball, and an investigative feature on white supremacy and law enforcement.
The means of distribution (starting a new paper or radio show) can and should come later, but Baltimore needs stories that matter to its various communities, especially the underserved and underrepresented right now. By working with writers, photographers, videographers, and podcasters, BINJ Baltimore develops, assigns, and edits stories and then we partner with already existing independent media outlets to distribute the work.
BINJ just began Baltimore Binge, a brief, daily podcast that brings a mix of gallows humor and serious analysis to the often ridiculous and usually depressing Baltimore news cycle.
With our first $25,000, BINJ can hit the ground running and fund its first dozen or so projects. The more money we raise, the more projects we can fund.
But we don’t just want your money. We want your voices. We are aware of our own limitations and are building an advisory board to help us connect more broadly with more segments of the community. We’ll also be operating a series of “pop-up newsrooms” in Baltimore, setting up shop out in public, not to sell subscriptions or ask for money but to listen to what you have to say.
While we are a nonprofit this fundraising campaign is not using Indiegogo's nonprofit platform for logistical reasons. If you would like your donation to be tax-deductible, donate directly to the Center For Emerging Media and put "BINJ" in the notes so CEM knows its for BINJ.
binj-baltimore.org / BINJ.Baltimore@gmail.com