The Arkansas Nonprofit News Network is an independent, nonpartisan news outlet dedicated to producing journalism that matters to Arkansans.

Why does Arkansas need another media organization? Because most newsrooms lack the resources to do sustained reporting on complicated issues. The internet has upended traditional business models in journalism, decimating advertising revenue and forcing closures of newspapers everywhere.

Local newsrooms continue to do heroic work, but they have fewer and fewer staff and resources available to report on complex topics in the public interest. ANNN seeks to fill that gap in Arkansas. With funding from grants and individual donors, ANNN hires writers, editors, fact-checkers and photographers on a contract basis. Their reporting is then distributed for free to other media statewide, including newspapers, radio, TV and online outlets.

Transparency is a core value for ANNN. Donors have no say in editorial direction and other operations. ANNN discloses all contributors who give $500 or more on our website and discloses any instance in which donors’ work or business figures into our reporting.

ANNN stories appear in publications all across Arkansas. Among the outlets that distribute our reporting are the Arkansas Times, KUAF 91.3 public radio (Fayetteville), KUAR 89.1 public radio (Little Rock), The Southwest Times Record (Fort Smith), The Courier (Russellville), The Jonesboro Sun, The Baxter Bulletin (Mountain Home), The Magnolia Reporter, The Batesville Daily Guard, The Log Cabin Democrat (Conway), The Advance-Monticellonian (Monticello), The Booneville Democrat and The Sun-Times (Heber Springs). Read testimonials from publishers who run our reporting here.

ANNN also partners with national and regional publications when possible. We’ve worked with ProPublica, The Nation, the Economic Hardship Reporting Project and the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, among others. Subscribe to ANNN’s newsletter to keep up with our latest work!

Producing journalism that matters to Arkansans means all Arkansans — including groups that may be underrepresented in other media. We are committed to reporting on topics that affect rural, immigrant, LGBTQ, African-American, Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander communities, among others. Learn more about our past work and our editorial priorities.

If you’re a journalist interested in reporting for ANNN, please get in touch. We are committed to working with journalists of color, and we believe greater diversity in journalism is essential to the future of the field. ANNN also seeks to function as an incubator for emerging writers and editors in Arkansas, and we welcome story pitches large and small from aspiring journalists and students. (See our editorial independence policy here.)

ANNN is a registered nonprofit in the state of Arkansas that is operating under the fiscal sponsorship of the Fred Darragh Foundation (the Darragh Foundation’s latest IRS form 990 is here). Donations are tax deductible.

Donate to ANNN online, or make your check out to the Fred Darragh Foundation and mail to:

Arkansas Nonprofit News Network

PO Box 250746

Little Rock, AR  72225-0746

ANNN was founded in December 2016 by Lindsey Millar, the editor of the Arkansas Times since 2011. Lindsey served as editor and director of ANNN on an unpaid, volunteer basis for several years, all while continuing to run the Arkansas Times full-time. (Although ANNN grew out of the Times and its editorial staff, the two are independent.)

In October 2020, Benjamin Hardy took over as editor of ANNN. A former reporter and editor at the Arkansas Times, Benjamin has years of experience reporting on health care, education and politics in Arkansas. He was a 2018 health care performance reporting fellow with the Association of Health Care Journalists, and in 2019 he was a research reporting fellow at ProPublica.

The Arkansas Nonprofit News Network is an independent, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to producing journalism that matters to Arkansans. Our work is re-published by partner newsrooms across the state.