VTD selected for Columbia Journalism Review list

Onward and upward online

VTDigger.org was added to the Columbia Journalism Review’s News Frontier Database last week.

The searchable database was launched earlier this year with 50 short profiles of digital news outlets across the country. CJR’s objective is to develop the “most comprehensive” resource of its kind.

The list gives readers a sense of the scope and the character of the new media ecosystem evolving across the United States. It includes famous national news websites like Politico and The Huffington Post, and well-established regional online publications, such as MinnPost and voiceofsandiego.org.

What do all of these sites have in common, according to the CJR authors? “Ambitious journalism (and philanthropy, and capitalism).”

VTDigger.org fit CJR’s four criteria: We are devoted to original reporting and content; we have one or more (in fact two) full-time employees; we are a standalone online news operation (we’re not an arm of a “legacy” media outfit); and we are pursuing funding through advertising, grants and donations.

We are humbled and honored to be included in CJR’s database.

VTD has made several other notable lists recently.

We are grateful to Seven Days Newspaper for putting VTD second from the top of the “Just Say Know” Sunshine Week lineup on March 16. This is one of our proudest accomplishments.

Last fall, Charles Lewis, the executive editor of the Investigative Reporting Workshop and a former producer for 60 Minutes, included VTD in a list of websites he highlighted as part of the growing national online media ecosystem. The roster includes 60 news websites in more than two dozen states.

We are delighted to be counted among the pioneers.