A nonprofit newsroom for Columbus
We’re launching Signal Columbus, a nonprofit, community-centered news organization because people in Columbus told us they wanted something more from local news.
They said they want to be connected with information they can act on; to know how local money is spent so they can hold officials accountable; and to have access to nuanced information with diverse perspectives.
Signal Columbus will give you the news you deserve – free of charge.
Stay up to date as we prepare to launch and help shape a new type of news for Columbus
Join us in building community-centered news– Become a Documenter!
Signal Columbus will train and pay residents to document local government meetings with notes. We will then make those meeting summaries available as a new public record.
The Documenters program was started by City Bureau in Chicago in 2018 and is used in a growing number of newsrooms across the country, including our sibling newsrooms in Cleveland, Akron and Cincinnati.
Share your email if you want to learn more about this unique program or join as a Columbus Documenter:
Who we are
Signal Columbus is a part of a local news movement across Ohio.
In November 2022, Signal Ohio launched Signal Cleveland as the first of a network of independent, community-led, nonprofit newsrooms. Since then, we’ve launched Signal Akron, Signal Statewide and are working to launch the Signal Cincinnati newsroom.
How to support us
Journalism is vital to our communities. And we believe it should be free and accessible to everyone. That’s why we won’t have a paywall on any of our sites, charge a subscription fee or clutter our articles with ads that have nothing to do with our communities.
We believe there is another way to fund quality journalism. We are doubling down on the idea that if we ask our readers to contribute what you think we’re worth, we can build a sustainable business model for independent news.
It’s working in Cleveland and Akron. We think it can work in Columbus, too. Frankly, it has to. It’s that important.
If you value truly local reporting, become a founding donor and join us in building the type of news organization Cincinnati deserves.