Nonprofit Leadership Podcast

Episode: Is Becoming a Nonprofit the Solution to the Struggles Facing Major News Organizations Today?
Host: Dr. Rob Harter
Guest: Monica Bauerlein (CEO, Center for Investigative Reporting)
Date: November 3, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Dr. Rob Harter sits down with Monica Bauerlein, a pioneering leader in nonprofit journalism, to discuss whether the nonprofit model could provide a sustainable future for major news organizations. They delve into the pros and cons of nonprofit status, insights from the recent merger of Mother Jones and the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR), and broader lessons for nonprofit leadership, sustainability, and sector collaboration.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The History and Nature of Nonprofit Journalism

• Origins and Early Challenges
  • Mother Jones has been nonprofit since 1976, at a time when for-profit media dominated.
  • In the 1980s, Mother Jones was threatened with losing its nonprofit status, accused by the IRS of being a profit-making venture.
  • Monica summarizes:

    “They were, in fact, not making money hand over fist. They were losing hundreds of thousands a year, in part because they were investigating the very companies that would be paying for advertising in many magazines.” (04:25)

• Community Support is Key
  • Bauerlein highlights that, when nonprofits encounter threats (like loss of status or funding cuts), their community often rallies to support them.
  • Referencing both the history of Mother Jones and recent attacks on public media funding:

    “Your community, if you’re doing work that’s valuable, will rally to you... people are more motivated by the mission than by the tax deduction.” (08:01)

The Shifting Landscape for Journalism

• Advertising Model Collapse
  • Traditional news profitability hinged on advertising monopolies; this dried up with the rise of digital giants like Google and Facebook.

  • “Quality news has never been profitable. It’s not something that you make money with.” (09:33)

• Nonprofit Model as an Answer
  • Nonprofit journalism acknowledges reporting as a public good rather than a profit-making enterprise.
  • This structure liberates organizations from advertiser and political pressures.

  • “The nonprofit model basically confronts the fact that quality journalism is a public good... Let's focus on the public good. Let’s deliver this reporting... and the community will support it instead of advertisers that have very different motivations.” (11:40)

The Role of Mergers in Nonprofit Sustainability

• Why Merge?
  • Recent merger between Mother Jones and the Center for Investigative Reporting was motivated by mission alignment and reducing redundant infrastructure to maximize resources for reporting.

  • “Should we be thinking outside of our sort of organizational identity and maybe our ego... should we be doing something different that makes us more able to deliver on the mission?” (14:05)

• Benefits and Barriers
  • Mergers allow organizations to combine strengths and reach broader audiences, while sharing costly, complex infrastructure.
  • Ego, fear of job loss, and board resistance are common barriers.
• Practical Advice on Merger Leadership
  • Clear communication about post-merger leadership is essential; anticipate “Who will lead?” as the first question stakeholders will ask.
  • Trust and openness, including board structures, are vital.

  • “There has to be a huge amount of trust, and if you can’t get to that trust, it’s probably going to fail because you can never build in enough safeguards...” (19:30)

Media Partnerships for Nonprofits

• Effective Storytelling
  • All staff, leaders, and constituents are storytellers.

  • “Leaders of an organization, staff at an organization, people being served by an organization are all storytellers. So you want to... think about do those people have what they need to tell the story?” (21:26)

  • Media prefers “stories about stuff that is happening”—transformative stories, not just announcements.
• Connecting with Journalists (22:30–23:45)
  • Identify and build relationships with reporters covering your topic.
  • Reach out directly and offer yourself as a resource or source.

Launching Services for Struggling Nonprofits

• CIR’s Support Efforts
  • CIR Media Services offers operational help—financials, compliance, membership setup—for nonprofit and independent media organizations (and is expanding to other nonprofits).

  • “Where we find that our sweet spot is being… we operate a nonprofit. We work with all these challenges day to day, so we can give advice and provide a service from the depths of what everybody else is going through...” (27:13)

Leadership Lessons from Monica Bauerlein

• On Imposter Syndrome
  • “Everybody has imposter syndrome. If you don’t... that’s actually probably a little bit of a problem.” (29:28)
• Build a Diverse Team
  • Complement your weaknesses, don’t just hire clones of yourself.

  • “I need people on the team who are more or less half empty, who can look around the corner and see, what if this goes wrong?” (30:22)

• Fundraising Mindshift

  “You’re not actually asking for money. You’re asking for people to include you in the philanthropy they are doing anyway.” (30:58)

  • Inviting donors to discuss their giving process is powerful.
• Peer Support
  • Cultivate relationships with other nonprofit leaders:

    “You need some peers to keep you sane.” (31:40)

• On Being an ED/CEO
  • Leadership roles come with being projected upon; accept it as part of the role.

    “You are no longer just the person that you are. You’re also this avatar of the leader. And so people will project things on you and that’s okay.” (32:10)

The Future of News as Nonprofit vs. For-Profit (33:13)

• Most wealthy new media owners discover “you cannot make a profit in this field with quality journalism.”

• Nonprofit or break-even models are the most viable for sustaining community-serving journalism.

  “Quality community-serving journalism is not going to be a profit-making enterprise, full stop.” (33:37)

  • Some privately-owned outlets can break even without profit expectations, but nonprofit status gives essential flexibility and protection.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On journalism and profitability:

  “Quality news has never been profitable. It’s not something that you make money with.”
  — Monica Bauerlein (09:33)

• On the mission-driven reason to merge:

  “We are all about the mission. And if we’re all about the mission... should we be thinking outside of our organizational identity and maybe our ego?”
  — Monica Bauerlein (14:07)

• On board and leadership tensions in mergers:

  “The first question out of everybody’s mouth was: who is going to end up leading? ... There has to be a huge amount of trust, and if you can't get to that trust, it’s probably going to fail.”
  — Monica Bauerlein (17:57 & 19:30)

• On nonprofit fundraising:

  “You’re not actually asking for money. You’re asking for people to include you in the philanthropy they are doing anyway.”
  — Monica Bauerlein (30:58)

• On the nonprofit future of journalism:

  “Quality community-serving journalism is not going to be a profit-making enterprise, full stop.”
  — Monica Bauerlein (33:37)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |---------------------------------------|------------| | Introduction & background | 00:01–03:22| | Mother Jones and nonprofit status | 04:25–08:26| | Journalism funding models | 09:33–12:15| | Mergers in the sector | 14:05–17:57| | Managing merger anxieties | 17:57–20:23| | How nonprofits can work with media | 21:22–24:12| | CIR Media Services & support | 26:17–28:24| | Monica’s leadership advice | 29:13–32:36| | The future of nonprofit news | 33:13–34:26| | Outro and where to find more info | 34:39–35:08|

Further Information

• Mother Jones Magazine: motherjones.com
• Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting: revealnews.org
• CIR Media Services: Coming soon: cir.org

Connect with Monica Bauerlein via the above websites' contact forms.

This episode is a must-listen for nonprofit leaders, media professionals, and anyone curious about the future of journalism and mission-driven leadership.