ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA – The Minnesota Reformer, part of States Newsroom, marks its fifth year in publication Tuesday, demonstrating the power of local on-the-ground journalism through daily state-focused reporting.  

When the Reformer launched Jan. 14, 2020, Editor-in-Chief J. Patrick Coolican introduced the reporting team’s mission: “We’re interested in telling great stories, without fear or favor. The state’s most powerful people and institutions should be ready for our scrutiny and hard questions. We’ll work hard to bring you analysis, investigations and storytelling, so you’ll know not only what happened, but why it happened, who is responsible and what it means for Minnesota’s present and future.”

Since 2020, the Reformer has done just that, filling a growing void in the media ecosystem, where local newsrooms have dwindled under financial pressures and “news deserts” have become the norm in rural areas.  

The Minnesota Reformer is part of States Newsroom, now the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, with on-the-ground reporting from every state capital. Minnesota was the 11th state newsroom to be launched by the network, which now operates 39 newsrooms and partners with and supports already-established nonprofit newsrooms in 11 other states.

Six other newsrooms also will mark their five-year anniversaries with States Newsroom in 2025, including the Iowa Capital Dispatch, Tennessee Lookout, Louisiana Illuminator, Colorado Newsline, Kansas Reflector and Missouri Independent.

“Minnesota’s state politics and news events have long played an outsized role in national politics, and we’re proud of the way the Reformer stays on top of it all,” said Chris Fitzsimon, publisher of States Newsroom. “The last five years certainly demonstrate that – from coverage of the killing of George Floyd to the selection of Tim Walz as a VP candidate. Under Patrick’s leadership, the Reformer takes on daily coverage and deep longer-term investigations with the same gusto.”

Minnesota Reformer stories win journalism awards and bring real-world change to local communities. A few highlights:

• George Floyd death investigation: The Bad Cops: How Minneapolis protects its worst police officers until it’s too late Won a national public records journalism award because of the extensive litigation required to obtain the records.
• Jaleel Stallings coverage: Jaleel Stallings shot at the MPD; a jury acquitted him of wrongdoing This story and several follow-up stories led to the conviction of one of the officers involved and a major settlement between the city and Stallings.
• 3M and forever chemicals: There must be something in the water This story (and part 2) featured a woman named Amara Strande, who courageously advocated for a law regulating forever chemicals in the Minnesota Legislature. She died shortly before the bill, named “Amara’s Law,” passed. 3M would go on to announce it was leaving the pfas market.
• Labor reporting: Workers on Vikings development claim wage theft One example of the exemplary reporting by the Reformer’s Max Nesterak, one of the few dedicated labor reporters in Minnesota.
• Fraud in state government programs: A former autism center employee tried to report fraud to the state. Nobody responded. One of many stories that the Reformer team has published on what’s become an emerging story in MInnesota politics and government: Widespread fraud.

Local news outlets across Minnesota regularly republish Reformer coverage in their publications, leaning on the Reformer’s robust state political coverage.

“The Twin Cities are lucky to have a vibrant sharing of content between online newsrooms that aim at different audiences,” Steve Schewe, publisher of Eden Prairie Local News, said. “Minnesota Reformer stands out for its investigative chops, its ability to pry information out of the powers that be and the cheeky, cheerful way they help Eden Prairie readers connect to what’s going on in the state capital and in the rest of Minnesota.”

Coolican credited the Reformer’s reporters for their work, which has made the Reformer must-reading for Minnesotans who want accurate, honest reporting on statewide policy and politics.

“I can’t say enough about our talented and hardworking staff of reporters, who are finding stories Minnesotans need and can find nowhere else,” she said.

The five-year anniversary falls fittingly on the first day of the Minnesota legislative session. The five-person staff of the Minnesota Reformer, including Coolican, Max Nesterak, Christopher Ingraham, Michelle Griffith and Madison McVan, will mark the anniversary by doing what they do every day: reporting the news in Minnesota.

MEDIA AVAILABILITY:

• J. Patrick Coolican, Editor in Chief, Minnesota Reformer, [email protected], 202-491-7755
• Lara Weber, Communications Director, States Newsroom, [email protected], 312-952-0788

ABOUT STATES NEWSROOM

States Newsroom is the nation’s largest nonprofit news organization. We shine a light on policy and politics in state capitals around the nation and we provide that coverage for free, no pop-ups, paywalls or ads. In an era of rampant disinformation and news deserts, we provide nonpartisan coverage of the state issues that most affect people’s daily lives.

Leading studies cite States Newsroom as key to filling the void in coverage left by staffing cuts at legacy media outlets. According to one study, the overall percentage of reporters working for nonprofit newsrooms in the statehouse press corps has more than tripled since 2014 and now makes up the largest portion of statehouse reporters in 10 states and the second largest in 17 states.

States Newsroom runs — or partners with — news outlets in all 50 state capitals.

We fully fund newsrooms in 39 states, each with its own website. They are:

Alabama Reflector – alabamareflector.com

Alaska Beacon – alaskabeacon.com

Arizona Mirror – azmirror.com

Arkansas Advocate – arkansasadvocate.com

Colorado Newsline – coloradonewsline.com

Florida Phoenix – floridaphoenix.com

Georgia Recorder – georgiarecorder.com

Idaho Capital Sun – idahocapitalsun.com

Indiana Capital Chronicle – indianacapitalchronicle.com

Iowa Capital Dispatch – iowacapitaldispatch.com

Kansas Reflector – kansasreflector.com

Kentucky Lantern – kentuckylantern.com

Louisiana Illuminator – lailluminator.com

Maine Morning Star – mainemorningstar.com

Maryland Matters – marylandmatters.org

Michigan Advance – michiganadvance.com

Minnesota Reformer – minnesotareformer.com

Missouri Independent – missouriindependent.com

Daily Montanan – dailymontanan.com

Nebraska Examiner – nebraskaexaminer.com

Nevada Current – nevadacurrent.com

New Hampshire Bulletin – newhampshirebulletin.com

New Jersey Monitor – newjerseymonitor.com

Source New Mexico – sourcenm.com

NC Newsline – ncnewsline.com

North Dakota Monitor – northdakotamonitor.com

Ohio Capital Journal – ohiocapitaljournal.com

Oklahoma Voice – oklahomavoice.com

Oregon Capital Chronicle – oregoncapitalchronicle.com

Pennsylvania Capital-Star – penncapital-star.com

Rhode Island Current – rhodeislandcurrent.com

South Carolina Daily Gazette – scdailygazette.com

South Dakota Searchlight – southdakotasearchlight.com

Stateline – stateline.org

Tennessee Lookout – tennesseelookout.com

Utah News Dispatch – utahnewsdispatch.com

Virginia Mercury – virginiamercury.com

Washington State Standard – washingtonstatestandard.com

West Virginia Watch – westvirginiawatch.com

Wisconsin Examiner – wisconsinexaminer.com

States Newsroom also has content-sharing agreements with 11 leading nonprofit newsrooms: CalMatters (California), Connecticut Mirror, Spotlight Delaware, Honolulu Civil Beat, Capitol News Illinois, CommonWealth Beacon (Massachusetts), Mississippi Today, New York Focus, The Texas Tribune, VTDigger (Vermont), and WyoFile (Wyoming).