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Journalism is broken — let’s reimagine it, together.

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Your support helps us keep the lights on and pay our contributors.
  • Get stickers
  • A yearly magazine
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The Objective is a fiscally sponsored project of and a member publication of the Institute for Nonprofit News. All donations are tax-deductible. By pressing the button above, you accept the website’s terms of use terms of use and its privacy policy. Have a question? Check out our FAQ or contact us here.

What does The Objective do?

After the summer of 2020, a slew of journalism organizations committed to change in terms of how they cover historically underrepresented communities, as well as how they treated and hired staff from those same communities.

But their failures were not new. We’ve heard it time and time again: journalism organizations making public statements denouncing the treatment of historically underrepresented communities. Those same organizations committing to change how they cover and treat staff from those communities. And then… nothing.

Despite holding themselves up as “objective” and “impartial” for generations, mainstream American newsrooms have almost always been defined by homogenous teams that fail to account for race, gender, class, disability, and sexuality.

We founded The Objective in June of 2020 as a volunteer collective of journalists concerned with systems of inequity in newsrooms. Our small newsroom relies on donations to hold journalism institutions accountable and advocate for journalism that’s understanding of power dynamics and intersections of identity.

The Objective’s first print magazine centered on “the reckoning in food media.”

Your donation goes to paying our contributors equitably and ensuring we can continue to publish independent reporting and media criticism.

We publish reporting, media criticism, and Q&As with the goal of building collective and narrative power for communities (and journalists) that have been misrepresented or dismissed in order to change the way journalism is practiced in the U.S.

To us this means two things:

  1. An expanding number of media reporters and critics, primarily from demographics historically marginalized by the journalism field, are visible to the journalism field. Beyond that, we want all journalists to feel more comfortable offering public, fair, and well intentioned feedback to the newsrooms they work for and read.
  2. People historically marginalized, distorted, and misquoted have a forum to read about and express their own concerns about journalism’s production in the U.S.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

A neon green raven facing right has the letters "Ravenous" cut out of its body. Its feet are splayed in a way that look like a fork and spoon.
Ravenous is the newest publication in a growing menu of food journalism co-ops
By
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News
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April 17, 2026
As corporate media instability and “pivot to video” shift the landscape of culture reporting, new worker-run food publications like Ravenous feed cravings for long-form writing.
An issue of Freedom's Journal overlaid with a torn edge of paper. At the right-hand corner of the issue is an image of stacked hundred dollar bills.
The Black press has always faced an inequitable funding landscape. Its future can’t be the same
By
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Commentary
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April 15, 2026
Looking to historical models can provide some clarity and inspiration in an environment once again hostile to funding Black journalists and the Black press.
Graphic recording of The Objective’s Trans Media Convening panel, Narrative Change in Journalism. Top left section, below heading that says Narrative Change in Journalism: A swiss army knife that says “narrative change.” Many stories combine to form narratives that shape meaning and our realities. Multiple infrastructures work to shift narratives: Organizing, art, documentary. Journalism shapes reality by: telling us what’s happening, starting and expanding conversations (thought bubble that says “What even is gender?”), showing us what’s possible, presenting evidence in context, offering institutional guidance, and showing our power. Top right section: Journalism’s histories: A set of practices & traditions that upholds the status quo & ignores the margins. Omit: Stories about Black folks and everyone on the margins. A news station has a flag that says “myth of objectivity.” Another tradition shines a spotlight on the margins & refuses to look away! A la Ida B. Wells. A portrait of Ida B. Wells is shown. Bottom left section: Where has this brought us? 3 main approaches to coverage: 3D glasses with one pink lens and one blue lens. Cis lens is default and dominant: Nature documentary (behold the wild trans person), clinical (puzzle, not people), and scandalized (e.g. Jerry Springer, Ace Ventura, JK Rowling) & newsrooms (like CBS) are firing trans reporters. Below right section: What is our assignment? Pressure newsrooms, equip individual reporters to fight ‘em, humanize the story, multi-tactical, non-binary — work all the precious points & follow the data. Scoop the newsroom, tell a better story, work with & for each other, be our best resource. Build our own places. “Throw sand in the gears of genocide.” -Rasha Abdulhadi. Keep fighting!
Strategizing about a safer media ecosystem for trans people: The Objective’s first Trans Media Convening
By
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The Objective
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April 13, 2026
Over 70 trans journalists and allies gathered for the convening. Panelists included TransLash CEO and founder Imara Jones and Trans Journalists Association board president Kae Petrin.

Who supports The Objective?

The Objective is supported by our readers, as well as charitable foundations and organizations. You can view a list of our founding supporters here.

Here are just a few of the organizations that have supported our work:

We maintain a public list of all donors that give more than $5,000 in a year and do not accept donations from political parties. If you would like to discuss a major gift, please contact us at majorgifts@objectivejournalism.org.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Objective is a fiscally sponsored project of the Institute for Nonprofit News, a 501(c) (3) charitable organization, EIN 27-2614911. deemed tax-deductible absent any limitations on deductibility applicable to a particular taxpayer.

Yes! And please feel free to let us know if you do, so we can confirm with you when we receive it.

Donation Checks should be made out to INN (our fiscal sponsor) with “The Objective” listed on the memo line and mailed to:

Institute for Nonprofit News
8549 Wilshire Blvd #2294
Beverly Hills, CA 90211

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