Former WAMU and DCist staffers have raised more than $170,000 to start a worker-led nonprofit newsroom called The 51st.
The 51st is planned to begin as a weekly newsletter, with the goal of starting publication in the fall, according to two of its co-founders, Maddie Poore and Teresa Frontado.
WAMU in Washington, D.C., shut down the digital news site DCist in February and laid off employees. (American University owns WAMU, and Current is an editorially independent service of the American University School of Communication.)
The six people launching The 51st have all worked for WAMU or DCist, but at different times.
As of Monday afternoon, an online fundraiser for The 51st had raised more than $172,000 of its $250,000 goal.
“It shows there is a need and a desire in the District for an outlet of this type,” said Frontado after the fundraiser brought in tens of thousands of dollars during its first day online.
Frontado is the former executive editor of WAMU and DCist. She added that DCist had 600,000 unique monthly visitors and 57,000 subscribers to its newsletter when it was closed.
As for the name The 51st, it was the winner of a survey, receiving 26.9% of the vote, the newsroom said in a LinkedIn post.
The name reflects the fight for “democratic representation in D.C.,” the post said, adding that the The 51st will provide “information WITH representation.”
The newsroom is also having in-person community listening events, which will help inform its stories.
Poore said the newsroom has beats in mind, such as affordability, because D.C. is an “incredibly expensive city to live and thrive in.”
The 51st also plans to do investigative reporting as well as covering the “fun, interesting parts about why it’s so great to live in this really special city,” Poore said.
“What sort of journalism makes living here better for the people who live here?” Poore said.
Or, as Frontado put it, “We really feel like there’s this need in the community not being fulfilled. We want to address it.”
The other founders of The 51st are Abigail Higgins, a former editor at DCist and WAMU; former WAMU and DCist general assignment reporter Colleen Grablick; former strategic partnerships editor at WAMU, Eric Falquero; and former DCist managing editor Natalie Delgadillo.
The online fundraiser for The 51st aims to give the newsroom a runway while it builds out a membership program to sustain itself, according to Poore. It’s also looking into philanthropy.
Poore spent six years at WAMU, including building and running DCist’s membership program. She said The 51st has filed to become a nonprofit.
The 51st is also working with The Tiny News Collective, which offers support to first-time founders creating sustainable news organizations.
The Tiny News Collective is also The 51st’s fiscal sponsor if a donor needs to give to an already established nonprofit for a large donation or through a donor-advised fund, Poore said.
The newsroom does not plan on acquiring DCist’s archive of stories, according to Frontado. WAMU said in February it would keep the website online for a year as it looked for a long-term home.
“We thought that would entail a protracted negotiation,” Frontado said. “We’re taking the good things, and we’re creating something sustainable.”