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Key links:
Primary website:
tainews.org
Primary Twitter:
@ainewsnetwork

Editor’s Note: Encyclo has not been regularly updated since August 2014, so information posted here is likely to be out of date and may be no longer accurate. It’s best used as a snapshot of the media landscape at that point in time.

The American Independent News Network is a nonprofit network of local news sites centered on government and politics.

The network was founded by David S. Bennahum in 2006 as the Center for Independent Media, changing its name in 2010. It began with the New Journalist Pilot Program in Colorado and Minnesota, with 17 reporters participating. In 2007, the center began expanding to other areas, adding IowaMichiganWashington, D.C.New Mexico and Florida.

It underwent layoffs in 2008 and 2010, the latter of which included the shuttering or downsizing of its ambitious New Mexico Independent and Washington Independent sites. Bennahum cited the rapidly growing staffs and the lack of long-term major grant givers as the reasons for the cuts. It also closed the Colorado Independent in 2013, though that site was reborn as an independent site later that year.

The organization appeared to be in hiatus as of early 2014.

The network has raised $11.5 million from numerous donors and foundations since its inception. As of 2010, it had a network-wide budget of about $2.3 million with a news staff of 31. Bennahum’s goal is for the network to earn more of its revenue from advertising, events and sponsorships, with more than half of its funding still coming from grants.

Peers, allies, & competitors:
Recent Nieman Lab coverage:
Feb. 18, 2014 / Caroline O'Donovan
In Connecticut, the Independent Media Network tries to succeed where Patch couldn’t — AOL’s Patch was perhaps the most noteworthy attempt to network local online news. It was built around hundreds of locally focused sites, yes, but it relied on a common technology back end and a shared ad sales staf...
Feb. 18, 2014 / Joseph Lichterman
After the demise of its network, The Colorado Independent is born again on its own — Susan Greene got the call about six weeks after she became editor of The Colorado Independent in early 2013: The American Independent News Network, which funded the nonprofit online news organization, was closing the sit...
July 18, 2011 / Joshua Benton
Pew: Nonprofit journalism doesn’t mean ideology-free — Pew's Project for Excellence in Journalism is out with a new study this morning that looks at the new universe of nonprofit journalism — and tries to get beyond the ProPublicas of the world to see who else is producin...
Nov. 19, 2010 / Laura McGann
The Washington Independent is folding, the CEO goes over the books and outlines the lessons he’s learned — On Wednesday, the nonprofit news and politics site The Washington Independent announced that, after just under three years of publishing, it's closing shop. Its state-based sister site The New Mexico Independent said it ...
March 11, 2010 / Laura McGann
What makes a nonprofit news org legit? Three other questions to separate journalism from advocacy — Last week, Jim Barnett raised a question about nonprofit journalism: What makes it legit? How do we know if a nonprofit news outlet shares the ideals and culture of traditional journalism, and how can we make sure we don...

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Primary author: Mark Coddington. Main text last updated: February 27, 2014.
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