The 19th, sometimes stylized The 19th*, is a
nonprofit
A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
and independent
news organization
The news media or news industry are forms of mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public. These include news agencies, newspapers, news magazines, news channels etc.
History
Some of the first news circulations occurred in ...
based in
Austin, Texas
Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
.
It was founded in 2020 by CEO
Emily Ramshaw and publisher Amanda Zamora, both former ''
Texas Tribune
''The Texas Tribune'' is a nonprofit politics and public policy news website headquartered in Austin, Texas, United States. Its stated aim is to promote civic engagement through original, explanatory journalism and public events.
''The Texas Tr ...
'' staffers who served as editor-in-chief and chief audience officer, respectively.
History
The organization is named after the
Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Nineteenth Amendment (Amendment XIX) to the United States Constitution prohibits the United States and its U.S. state, states from denying the Suffrage, right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex, in effect recogni ...
, which gave women the right to vote, reflecting its mission "to empower women—particularly those underserved by and underrepresented in American media—with the information, community, and tools they need to be equal participants in our democracy." Ramshaw said its coverage would initially be "presidential politics, women and
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
, the women's electorate, women's health, women and the economy, and women and the states".
The
asterisk
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star.
Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
used in the stylized name is intended to indicate the organization's view that the Nineteenth Amendment is "unfinished business" as, in practice, the passing of the amendment mainly benefited
white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
women.
Other executives include
Johanna Derlega, chief revenue officer, formerly at ''
The Hill'' and ''
National Journal
''National Journal'' is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes ...
'';
Errin Haines, editor-at-large, and former national writer on race for the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.
Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
; Julia B. Chan, editor-in-chief, previously at KQED, ''
Mother Jones'', and
''Reveal'' from the Center for Investigative Reporting;
Ben Werdmuller, CTO, formerly co-founder of
Elgg
Elgg is a municipality in the district of Winterthur in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. On 1 January 2018 the former municipality of Hofstetten merged into the municipality of Elgg.
History
Elgg () is first mentioned between 760 and 763 ...
and
Known.
While it was building its staff in early 2020, the news organization had a content sharing agreement with ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
''.
Starting April 22, it had planned to kick off a national tour of
Austin
Austin refers to:
Common meanings
* Austin, Texas, United States, a city
* Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters
* Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...
,
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
,
Denver
Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
,
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
,
Minneapolis
Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
, and
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
in order to help shape its coverage, but this tour was later cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
The site launched officially on August 2, 2020.
The venture started with close to $5 million in pledged support.
Among the funders to the site are
Craig Newmark
Craig Alexander Newmark (born December 6, 1952) is an American internet entrepreneur and philanthropist best known as the founder of the classifieds website Craigslist. Before founding Craigslist, he worked as a computer programmer for IBM, Bank ...
(500,000);
Kathryn Murdoch ($1 million);
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that currently advises on and manages more than $200 million in annual charitable giving. Its headquarters are in New York City, with offices in Chicago, Los Angeles and ...
' Reproductive Health and Women's Rights Collaborative ($1 million); and various amounts from the
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...
,
Emerson Collective
Emerson Collective is an organization focused on education, immigration reform, the environment, media and journalism, and health. Founded by billionaire philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, the collective, which operates under a limited liabilit ...
, the
Knight Foundation
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, also known as the Knight Foundation, is an American non-profit foundation that provides grants for journalism, communities, and the arts.
The organization was founded as the Knight Memorial Education ...
,
Abigail Disney
Abigail Edna Disney (born January 24, 1960) is an American documentary film producer, philanthropist, social activist, and member of the Disney family. She produced the 2008 documentary '' Pray the Devil Back to Hell''. Disney and Kathleen Hugh ...
,
Arnold Ventures
Arnold Ventures LLC (formerly known as the Laura and John Arnold Foundation) is a limited liability company that is the philanthropic vehicle of billionaires John D. Arnold and Laura Arnold. As of 2023, the organization had $4.31 billion in asset ...
, and the
Packard Foundation.
As of March 2021, newsroom leaders said the venture had raised $12 million.
See also
*
Institute for Nonprofit News
The Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) is a non-profit consortium of nonprofit journalism organizations. The organization promotes nonprofit investigative and public service journalism. INN facilitates collaborations between member organizatio ...
(member)
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:19th, The
2020 establishments in Texas
501(c)(3) organizations
American journalism organizations
American news websites
Organizations established in 2020
Non-profit organizations based in Austin, Texas
Internet properties established in 2020