States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, has announced leadership and staff changes that reflect its continued growth and expansion into new media platforms. Chief Operating Officer Andrea Verykoukis is stepping down from States Newsroom eight years after she and publisher Chris Fitzsimon founded the nonprofit news organization. Breanne Porter has been elevated to chief operating officer.
Verykoukis and Fitzsimon developed States Newsroom after taking an interest in the dearth of state government media coverage. His work to better cover the North Carolina statehouse grew into the model they used for a network of digital news outlets in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Porter joined States Newsroom in 2019 and since 2024 has served as chief financial and administrative officer.
Verykoukis departs States Newsroom at the end of March but will remain connected to the organization, shifting to a strategic consultant role focused on fostering collaborations and partnerships with external news groups. Porter begins as chief operating officer April 1. States Newsroom will conduct a search for a new CFO.
Accomplishments since States Newsroom’s launch in 2017:
Launched 39 state newsrooms and a D.C. Bureau, supporting 200+ journalists working across the nation, and established partnerships with 11 existing state news outlets to achieve coverage of all 50 states.
Established States Newsroom as an independent 501(c)(3) in 2019.
Acquired Stateline from the Pew Charitable Trusts in 2023.
Launched the News From The States website to feature our work and that of our partners, offering local government reporting from all 50 states.
Celebrated more than 900 journalism awards across the network, including from the Pulitzer Prize Board, which named Alabama Reflector Editor Brian Lyman a finalist for commentary writing in 2024.
“Andrea and I started with the belief that everyone, no matter what state you are in, deserves access to high-quality non-partisan news,” Fitzsimon said. “As we grew this network, it was a privilege to work in so many states. Now, in today’s climate, I see it as our duty to report as thoroughly as we can. With Breanne stepping up, and our ongoing work with Andrea, I’m confident our network of journalists will continue to grow, break stories and give people across the country the vital information they need to make decisions about their states and communities.”
States Newsroom podcast in development
States Newsroom also announced plans to develop and launch a weekly podcast grounded in the state-focused reporting from across the network.
“We’re excited to expand the reach of our journalism through a new platform,” Fitzsimon said. “Several of our state outlets already produce successful podcasts, and this will give us the opportunity to showcase our work to a larger, national audience. Stay tuned.”
About States Newsroom:
States Newsroom is the nation’s largest nonprofit state-focused news organization. We shine a light on policy and politics in state capitals around the nation and we provide that coverage for free, no pop-ups, paywalls or ads. In an era of rampant disinformation and news deserts, we provide nonpartisan coverage of the state issues that most affect people’s daily lives.
Leading studies cite States Newsroom as key to filling the void in coverage left by staffing cuts at legacy media outlets. According to one study, the overall percentage of reporters working for nonprofit newsrooms in the statehouse press corps has more than tripled since 2014 and now makes up the largest portion of statehouse reporters in 10 states and the second largest in 17 states.
States Newsroom runs — or partners with — news outlets in all 50 state capitals.
We fully fund newsrooms in 39 states, each with its own website. They are:
Alabama Reflector – alabamareflector.com
Alaska Beacon – alaskabeacon.com
Arizona Mirror – azmirror.com
Arkansas Advocate – arkansasadvocate.com
Colorado Newsline – coloradonewsline.com
Florida Phoenix – floridaphoenix.com
Georgia Recorder – georgiarecorder.com
Idaho Capital Sun – idahocapitalsun.com
Indiana Capital Chronicle – indianacapitalchronicle.com
Iowa Capital Dispatch – iowacapitaldispatch.com
Kansas Reflector – kansasreflector.com
Kentucky Lantern – kentuckylantern.com
Louisiana Illuminator – lailluminator.com
Maine Morning Star – mainemorningstar.com
Maryland Matters – marylandmatters.org
Michigan Advance – michiganadvance.com
Minnesota Reformer – minnesotareformer.com
Missouri Independent – missouriindependent.com
Daily Montanan – dailymontanan.com
Nebraska Examiner – nebraskaexaminer.com
Nevada Current – nevadacurrent.com
New Hampshire Bulletin – newhampshirebulletin.com
New Jersey Monitor – newjerseymonitor.com
Source New Mexico – sourcenm.com
NC Newsline – ncnewsline.com
North Dakota Monitor – northdakotamonitor.com
Ohio Capital Journal – ohiocapitaljournal.com
Oklahoma Voice – oklahomavoice.com
Oregon Capital Chronicle – oregoncapitalchronicle.com
Pennsylvania Capital-Star – penncapital-star.com
Rhode Island Current – rhodeislandcurrent.com
South Carolina Daily Gazette – scdailygazette.com
South Dakota Searchlight – southdakotasearchlight.com
Stateline – stateline.org
Tennessee Lookout – tennesseelookout.com
Utah News Dispatch – utahnewsdispatch.com
Virginia Mercury – virginiamercury.com
Washington State Standard – washingtonstatestandard.com
West Virginia Watch – westvirginiawatch.com
Wisconsin Examiner – wisconsinexaminer.com
States Newsroom also has content-sharing agreements with 11 leading nonprofit newsrooms: CalMatters (California), Connecticut Mirror, Spotlight Delaware, Honolulu Civil Beat, Capitol News Illinois, CommonWealth Beacon (Massachusetts), Mississippi Today, New York Focus, The Texas Tribune, VTDigger (Vermont) and WyoFile (Wyoming).
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