Company Profile

Company Description:

New Bedford Light is one of the country’s most successful recent nonprofit news startups. Two years ago, The Light was a gleam in the eye of a group of concerned citizens worried that this vibrant city of 101,000 was in the middle of a news desert. Local journalism had all but vanished. Residents had almost nowhere to turn to learn what government agencies were doing. There was no one to hold powerful people and institutions accountable. Civic engagement was in a downward spiral. No more: The Light, which published its first article in June 2021 with one editor and two freelancers, now has a newsroom of three editors and eight staff reporters. Having raised $2.4 million to date, we have a 2023 budget of $1.7 million, a donor base that already exceeds 1,000 people and a lengthening string of investigative and enterprise stories that have injected new life – and an appreciation for the importance of watchdog journalism – into one of America’s most storied cities.