The Kansas City Beacon is committed to sharing diverse perspectives and investigating systemic issues — and potential solutions — through original, fact-based reporting. In the spirit of that mission, we are a proud founding member of the KC Media Collective: A group of nonprofit and community-centered partners collaborating to make local news easily available, its coverage equitable and its operations sustainable.
The idea behind the collective is to work together to pull resources, to start collaborating and to find ways we can better serve our audiences and the public.
Kelsey Ryan, founder of The Kansas City Beacon
The KC Media Collective is committed to efforts that emphasize mutual understanding and empathy within communities. We work towards a day when people have access to trusted news, and communities benefit through greater civic engagement. Breaking systemic barriers to news access, including poverty, language barriers, disabilities and educational inequity, will unleash the potential of our communities. Likewise, the sustainability of local news is central to the connectivity and success of the Kansas City region and each individual who calls it home.
Each outlet brings diverse reporting and audiences to build a vibrant network of local journalism. The ultimate goal of the KC Media Collective is to better meet community information needs by maximizing resources through new lines of communication, content sharing and collaborative reporting.
The initiative was made possible with support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
About American Public Square: American Public Square at Jewell is a Kansas City-based nonprofit community organization working to improve the tone and quality of public discourse. Through its diverse events, programs and resources, APS offers a better understanding of divergent perspectives with a focus on civility, facts and balanced perspectives – a key step toward mutual respect, compromise and resolution of challenging issues.
About Kansas City PBS: Located in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City PBS is a nonprofit multimedia organization serving the community since 1961. The PBS member station airs diverse content focused on civic affairs, science, food, drink, arts and culture on four television channels. It also owns and operates the local NPR music station, 90.9 The Bridge, providing nonprofit radio in a AAA format to listeners over the air and online streaming. Kansas City PBS’ nonprofit source for local journalism, Flatland, produces multimedia reporting focused on civic affairs, arts and culture, food and drink, and education.
About KCUR: KCUR-FM is the flagship NPR station in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Founded in 1957 as Kansas City’s first public radio station, it has grown into a community institution providing free access to news, information and entertainment across greater Kansas City and beyond, broadcasting at 89.3 FM and online at kcur.org. KCUR is an increasingly vital part of NPR’s network, producing critically needed fact-based journalism for the region we serve. It is the lead station for several collaborations including the Kansas News Service, Harvest Public Media and the new NPR.
About Missouri Business Alert: Missouri Business Alert is a digital newsroom that delivers top business news from across Missouri. A Missouri School of Journalism newsroom, Missouri Business Alert is managed by professionals and staffed by university students. The publication works to inform, connect and inspire Missouri’s business community and equip students for the future of business journalism.
About Startland News: Founded in May 2015, Startland News is a nonprofit newsroom elevating Kansas City’s innovation community of entrepreneurs, startups, creatives, makers and risk-takers through objective storytelling.
About The Kansas City Beacon: The Kansas City Beacon is a nonprofit online news outlet focused on in-depth journalism in the public interest. It launched in 2020 and is part of The Beacon, a regional nonprofit news network serving Kansas and Missouri. Beacon stories are revelatory, contextual, data-driven and solutions-driven. Our reporting centers around issues in health care, education, economics, environment and civic engagement.