Weave News is announcing a new fiscal sponsorship agreement with the Media Freedom Foundation (MFF), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that supports independent media projects.

“This partnership with the Media Freedom Foundation marks an exciting new chapter for Weave News,” said Jana Morgan, Weave News Board Chair. “Having more freedom to operate will enable us to grow as an organization, deepen our impact, and support a thriving community of journalists dedicated to uncovering stories that mainstream media often overlook. This partnership fuels our vision of journalism that not only informs but also connects and transforms.”

18 years of grassroots journalism

Weave News Editorial Director John Collins and his students at St. Lawrence University created The Weave (as it was originally known) in 2006, first as an blogging project of his seminar on global news analysis and then as a larger organization devoted to investigating underreported stories. “We were all motivated by the desire to supplement our critiques of establishment media with media-making work that could help us be part of the solution,” recalls Collins. “If you go back and look at the kinds of stories we were covering in those early years, we were clearly ahead of the curve.”

Since that time, Weave News (its name as of 2016) has published the work of more than 150 grassroots journalists from locations as diverse as Costa Rica, Denmark, Eswatini, India, Jamaica, Kashmir, Mexico, Myanmar, Palestine, Spain, and various parts of New York.

Selected authors whose work Weave News has published in 2024 (L-R): Alejandro Beltrán Cordero, Tom Grotewohl, Gaia Guatri, Valeria Obregón, Steve Peraza, Celine Schreiber

The organization publishes journalism in a variety of formats, from its unique article series (such as Weaving the Streets, The Glocal Exchange, and Conflicting Emotions) to its Interweaving podcast and Big Questions video project. Recent publications include grassroots explorations of feminist mobilizations in Pakistan, the work of water protectors in Upper Michigan, and the struggles facing individuals in Italy who are fleeing violence and dislocation in their home countries.

“Partnering with the MFF will help us expand our role in the growing network of independent and grassroots media projects that provide essential alternatives to the coverage provided by corporate and other establishment media outlets,” said Collins. “There are so many stories and voices that are drowned out by the constant drumbeat of political news from Washington and elsewhere, or ignored entirely, and we want to do our part to help those stories and voices break through the noise.”

In addition to stand-alone articles, Weave News currently maintains a number of ongoing series that feature investigative reports, first-person narratives, critical news analysis, and Spanish-language dispatches from grassroots activists and journalists.

Weaving connections across borders

Weave News recently updated its mission, envisioning “a world where a vibrant grassroots journalism community promotes social justice, civic engagement, and media literacy by democratizing the work of journalism itself and by revealing the connections between the local and the global.” It seeks to center the voices of people who “report from where they are, from the ground,” in order to provide coverage of “issues that have a strong justice component and that reveal connections across communities, borders, struggles, and experiences.”

Partnering with the MFF will enable Weave News to raise funds independently to support its grassroots media mission, according to Celine Schreiber, Weave News Communications Director. "With this new partnership and the increased independence it brings, we’re excited to build a stronger foundation for Weave News. Every contribution will help us invest directly in supporting our communities, editors, and authors—ensuring that grassroots stories continue to reach the audiences that need them most.”

The MFF was established in 2012 and is closely affiliated with Project Censored, one of the country’s oldest independent media organizations. Project Censored Director Mickey Huff, who sits on the board of the foundation, says the partnership with Weave News is a natural fit. “We see this work as an extension of what we do, especially around independent journalism and critical media literacy education,” noted Huff. “Weave News represents an extraordinary grassroots journalistic endeavor with a social justice focus well-deserving of support.”

Heather Thomas, Weave News Director of Outreach and Engagement, sees the organization’s new non-profit partnership as a transformational moment. “We envision a future of tremendous growth for Weave News — growth in our audiences and readership, and our capacity to share stories,” she said. “This growth will bring new opportunities to connect people and places around the world.”

For more information on how to make a tax-deductible gift to support the work of Weave News, visit https://www.weavenews.org/donate.