URL Media secures $5 million Knight Foundation grant to build unprecedented sustainable infrastructure for community media

We’re building infrastructure that ensures revenue and tangible support flow directly to trusted local outlets — not just through shared advertising, but through the resources, access, and capacity our partners need to thrive.”

Sara Lomax, president and co-founder of URL Media, and owner, president and CEO of WURD Radio in Philadelphia

URL Media has announced a $5 million investment from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to scale its revolutionary model for sustainable community media. The grant positions URL Media as one of the few national platforms intentionally built to ensure that these trusted outlets serving Black and brown audiences can grow, compete and build long-term economic strength.

Created to address the chronic, systemic disinvestment in Black and brown community media, URL (which stands for Uplift, Respect and Love) Media combines reach with hyperlocal authenticity, harnessing the collective power of trusted local publishers and their audiences. URL Media’s approach leverages multiple revenue streams to keep investment flowing to local outlets at a time when these organizations, and the information their communities depend upon, are at risk.

Founded in January 2021 by Sara Lomax and S. Mitra Kalita — two powerhouse media entrepreneurs with decades of experience building and leading successful news organizations — URL Media operates as both a network hub connecting independent publishers and an original content producer. As the company enters its fifth year of operations in January 2026, the need for its partner-first approach has never been more urgent. In this moment when trusted journalism faces unprecedented attacks, digital media business models are collapsing, misinformation proliferates across platforms, and Black and brown communities find themselves increasingly targeted, URL Media offers a proven alternative: investing in sustainable infrastructure that helps community media build financial stability and operational capacity.

URL Media operates through four integrated business lines, creating a multi-revenue model that enables the organization to distribute $5 million+ cumulatively to partners by 2028 and establish sustainable revenue distribution to partners long after grant funding ends:

1. Advertising aggregation: Advertisers can reach authentic BIPOC audiences in local communities at national scale with one order and one bill, while partners gain new revenue through premium campaign placements across their sites.
2. Editorial production: Original and amplified storytelling that elevates trusted partner voices and delivers authentic content to engaged audiences.
3. Partner services and capacity building: Infrastructure and financial support that strengthens the entire network's sustainability and capacity.
4. Recruitment and talent development: Connecting diverse media professionals with mission-aligned employers and building partner capacity through training and HR services.

“We’re building infrastructure that ensures revenue and tangible support flow directly to trusted local outlets — not just through shared advertising, but through the resources, access, and capacity our partners need to thrive,” said Sara Lomax, president and co-founder of URL Media, and owner, president and CEO of WURD Radio in Philadelphia. “At a moment when local media is under profound threat, this investment helps us strengthen our ecosystem and build pathways to generational wealth for community media organizations at the heart of our communities.”

The company launched with eight partners and has grown to 37 media outlets reaching more than 25 million people. With Knight Foundation support, URL Media will scale to 100 publisher partners and 250 vetted creators, expanding its reach to 50 million people by 2028. The network reflects the depth, diversity, and multi-generational trust that define these outlets — credibility that outsider reporting cannot replicate. View a list of the 37 independent publishers and media organizations that are part of the URL Media Partner Network

The Knight Foundation investment ensures partners receive comprehensive support through three critical infrastructure components:

•  Shared Technology Platforms: URL Media is developing a centralized ad-operations and Data Insights platform, both launching in 2026. These tools streamline campaign execution for advertisers, provide transparent audience verification, surface trends and newsy topics from the ground up, and close the measurement gap. For publishers, this unlocks access to operational infrastructure that's typically only available to much larger organizations.
• Financial and Operational Support: URL Media provides direct financial assistance through the expanded Media Resilience Fund (low-interest loans of $30K–$100K via the National Community Reinvestment Coalition) and grant identification services. Operational support includes a managed internship program launching in Summer 2026, video production resources, professional development opportunities, and editorial amplification through URL's website, newsletters and coordinated funded coverage.
• Strategic Access & Revenue Pathways: URL Media creates direct connections to revenue opportunities through introductions to advertisers, funders and policymakers. Partners gain mainstream media placement through URL's PR services, access to exclusive industry events and partnership opportunities, and preferential access to Recruitment & Talent Development services including training, subsidized consultations and participation in a revenue-share pilot for executive search placements.

“This is about meeting this critical moment for media, technology and democracy,” said S. Mitra Kalita, CEO and co-founder of URL Media, CEO and publisher of Epicenter NYC, former SVP at CNN Digital and veteran of The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times. “For nearly five years, we’ve proven that partner-first economics works. Publishers maintain full editorial independence while gaining access to national advertisers, public service campaigns and operational support. This investment from Knight enables us to scale that model and demonstrate that social impact, ground-up expertise and business success can thrive together.”

URL Media solves a critical challenge for both publishers and advertisers. Black and brown audiences represent $5 trillion in buying power and more than 40% of the U.S. population, yet national advertisers struggle to reach these communities authentically. Local publishers operating independently cannot access major brand or public service campaigns. URL Media aggregates their collective power, offering advertisers one order-one bill and coordinated execution across a network of trusted community media outlets to more easily reach their dedicated audiences.

The investment enables URL Media to expand three editorial verticals addressing urgent community needs: URWell focuses on health equity and social determinants of health affecting Black and brown communities; URWealth centers on financial wellness, homeownership, entrepreneurship and closing the racial wealth gap; and URHired addresses career development and the future of work for multicultural media professionals navigating industry transformation. Featured via regular newsletters and on url-media.com, these verticals demonstrate the market value of authentic, community-driven journalism while creating sponsorship opportunities from healthcare companies, financial institutions and HR providers seeking to reach diverse audiences through trusted editorial content.

“URL Media is building the kind of durable, community-centered infrastructure that local news needs to survive and thrive,” said Amalie Nash, vice president for journalism at Knight Foundation. “Their partner-first model strengthens independent BIPOC news organizations while creating new pathways for revenue, technology and long-term sustainability. We’re proud to support a network that is expanding access to trusted information, advancing equity in media, and demonstrating what the future of local journalism can look like.”

About URL Media:

URL Media is transforming the media landscape by building a scalable, sustainable ecosystem that empowers trusted publishers and creators serving Black and brown communities, strengthens their capacity, and directs investment and opportunity to these voices central to shaping our culture and democracy. Founded in 2021 by media trailblazers Sara Lomax and S. Mitra Kalita, URL Media delivers authentic reach and lasting impact for brands, institutions and audiences ready to engage meaningfully with these communities. For more information, visit url-media.com.

About Knight Foundation:

Now in its 75th year, Knight Foundation is a social investor that supports a more effective democracy by funding free expression and journalism, arts and culture in community, research in areas of media and democracy and the success of American cities and towns where the Knight brothers once published newspapers. Learn more at KF.org.