The Pivot Fund's Tracie Powell joins the Georgia News Collaborative's Executive Board

Our founder, TRACIE POWELL , has joined the Georgia News Collaborative's inaugural executive board of directors. The Collaborative, a statewide coalition of 40-plus media and civic leaders, is on a mission to revitalize Georgia's local news infrastructure.

Read the release for more on the executive board members and the organization's first executive board director.

GEORGIA NEWS COLLABORATIVE NAMES FIRST EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EXECUTIVE BOARD

The Georgia News Collaborative announces its first executive board of directors and inaugural executive director — advancing its two-year mission to improve Georgia’s local news ecosystem and preserve democracy.

The Collaborative is a statewide coalition of 40-plus media and civic leaders reinvigorating Georgia’s declining local news infrastructure.

Local newsrooms across America have suffered catastrophic losses in the last decade, including the closure of 13 daily newspapers in Georgia. As local news services shrink, trust in news and fellow citizens is at an all-time low. Communities are flooded with disinformation and confusion. In the end, democracy is suffering as a result.

Scot Morrissey, president of The Albany Herald, has been named board president of the organization. Todd Franko, formerly of Report for America, has been named executive director.

"I am thrilled to help this amazing team expand the collaboration and create a rising tide of journalism in Georgia," said Morrissey. "Our board’s mission is to help Todd lift all journalism in Georgia and find new and innovative ways to fund more credible journalism."

Morrissey spent a decade as publisher of the Athens Banner-Herald before moving to Albany in 2018. He has had leadership positions with the Georgia Press Association, the United Way of Northeast Georgia and the Athens Area Community Foundation.

The inaugural executive board includes: Tracie Powell, founder and CEO of The Pivot Fund, based in Atlanta; Janis Ware, publisher of The Atlanta Voice, and Margaret Coker, editor-in-chief of The Current in Savannah. A full slate of board members is to be named in the coming weeks.

Franko is a 30-year newspaper veteran who spent the last 4 years with Report for America developing local philanthropic support for news. His work engaged more than 200 newsrooms across the country and raised more than $23 million for local news — most of it from citizens who never donated before to local news that had never received donations previously.

As GNC executive director, he will partner with state newsgroups, civic leaders, and community members to drive the Collaborative mission, which is to strengthen local news and information in Georgia through resources and capabilities that expand and sustain quality local coverage, engage the community, emphasize accountability, and rebuild trust so that our democracy can continue to flourish.

“I’ve had the challenge of shutting down local news in a large city and the joy of helping cities reinvigorate local news. The chance to help local news in Georgia with a formidable group of state leaders is a cherished opportunity,” said Franko.

The American republic is built on an informed citizenry, making trustworthy news a cornerstone of democracy. At present, 17 counties in Georgia are without local news coverage at all. In a recent study, 14 percent of state publishers said they have cash reserves for about 3 months of work. Meanwhile, partisan news sites have flourished with more than 30 in the state.

The reduced news landscape is compounded by our changing demographics — Georgia is experiencing rapid population growth in urban and coastal regions and population decline in many rural areas. Residents living in under-covered areas are more vulnerable to misinformation, community detachment, low civic participation and potentially higher public official corruption and negligence. The Collaborative will engage in a media literacy campaign that outlines the realities of strong local news and builds citizen trust in the process.

Powell is a leader in philanthropic efforts to increase racial equity and diversity in news media. She is the founder of The Pivot Fund, which seeks to support independent BIPOC community news.

Coker came home to Savannah in 2019 and launched The Current to revive watchdog and investigative news in Coastal Georgia. Her 20-year journalism career includes prize-winning work at The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.

Ware is publisher of the paper started by her father in 1966 when established media gave minimal coverage to the Civil Rights Movement. An expert in housing and community activism, she carries on his passion for publishing and community development.

The Collaborative partnership has been facilitated by Coxe Curry & Associates and is funded in part by grants from the Google News Initiative, the Wilbur & Hilda Glenn Family Foundation, and the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta.

(Todd Franko can be reached at [email protected]. The group’s website is ganewscollab.org.)

ABOUT THE GEORGIA NEWS COLLABORATIVE        

Local news is critical to our democracy, but it’s in jeopardy across the country—especially in Georgia. The Georgia News Collaborative was formed to innovate a solution to these challenges and to strengthen trustworthy, independent local news.

We represent organizations and individuals with a passion and ability for strengthening local news in Georgia. Members represent an array of geographies, media types and constituencies. We share a foundational belief that free, independent, accurate, community-driven, and equitable news is fundamental to the strength of our democracy and critical to the health of our communities. We envision a future in Georgia where all 159 counties have high-quality local news coverage for vital local topics including education, economics, environment, politics, public affairs, health and well-being. Local news audiences engage and rely upon trustworthy, accurate, multi-lingual, accessible, equitable, and relevant coverage. Local news outlets can sustain operations, and local ownership serves the local communities.