About the Community Information Cooperative
Our mission
The Community Information Cooperative is a New Jersey-based nonprofit project dedicated to the democratization of journalism and media.
We equip people with the tools and information they need to design and sustain information ecosystems that strengthen local democracy and increase civic engagement.
Our vision
The Community Information Cooperative envisions a resurgence in local, independent media led by communities publicly financing and democratically designing their own local news and information projects.
Our work
Our flagship effort is the info districts project. Info districts are special districts that fund participatory media and civic communications projects to meet local news and information needs. Modeled after other kinds of special districts – like business improvement or library districts – info districts are established democratically, funded by a local tax, and accountable to the community they serve through a public board.
In addition to the info districts project, we support research and experiments in public funding and community governance and participation in media. We work independently in addition to providing support to local governments, public media, and community associations to design, implement, and build local capacity for participatory media projects.
Our values
The Community Information Cooperative exists to make public service journalism more democratic and sustainable.
We believe journalism is a public service. We believe local news and information is the lifeblood of our communities and should be treated as such.
We believe institutions should be more democratic. We believe communities should be able to shape their institutions through participation.
We believe democratizing journalism will make it more sustainable and create more democratic institutions.
Our principles
The Community Information Cooperative is a nonprofit project dedicated to cooperation. We are organized this way to model democratic institutional behavior and to ensure our work is responsive to the needs of our communities.