The media business is really strange these days. Yet one cool thing is that new publications are popping up all over, started by founders who see a gap in the media landscape.

Over the past several years, I've learned about new publications serving Midwest immigrant communities, incarcerated Americans, rural towns and many, many more. Like with Future Tides, they see a need that's not being served.

An online publication is easier to start than ever, but much harder to sustain.

Sustainability, in the financial and emotional sense, is something a lot of media organizations are trying to figure out. That's why I'm excited to share Future Tides has joined the Tiny News Collective.

The Tiny News Collective is a nonprofit with a mission to “help people build sustainable news organizations that reflect and serve their communities.” Launched in 2020, the collective was founded and shaped by journalism entrepreneurs and industry advocates who want to make launching a news organization more accessible, especially to those who have been historically shut out of media ownership.

Members receive tech tools with support (a website with experts to help!), connect with other founders (people tackling similar work across the country!) and fiscal sponsorship (the ability to accept donations or grants!). The website you're reading this article on is one example of how the collective has accelerated my work building Future Tides.

Applying for the collective also helped me refine my vision and get realistic about what I needed. The onboarding involved a lot of behind-the-scenes work from migrating email to legal documents to launching the Future Tides website. And the work continues!

There will always be a lot going on behind-the-scenes (or behind-the-screen?) but the Tiny News Collective is a key support system. Now, I can return my focus to reporting, writing and publishing.