The Reader

We strive to provide news not deeply covered by the mainstream media with a focus on underserved communities, and increasingly, solutions-oriented coverage. We've tipped elections with our endorsements, run corrupt public officials out office, restored voting access, exposed practices that prey on the poor and just last week were the first in our state to cover the shortage of reagents limiting COVID-19 testing capabilities. 

We have been on the forefront of Omaha's cultural explosion over the last 25 years. We're a leader in our city and state in collaborative coverage, not only with El Perico (we own), but also the local Hispanic and Black press, community radio, journalism start-ups and local TV.

After 26 years, where to start? Our collaborative journalism leadership has had a direct impact on progressive change in our community in a multitude of ways. One prime example is the time we helped facilitate a Brown-Black alliance to fight a draconian closing of polling places ahead of the 2012 election. Our investigative reporting and data analysis, shared with the local ABC affiliate, helped these communities fight to restore more than a 1/2 of polling places that were to be closed. From beating the New York Times and The Economist on the multi-path appeals-court tactics of local immigration ordinances driven by nativist Kris Kobach, to tipping the balance in elections to stop a nativist mayor, to highlighting inequities in the justice system that allow companies to exploit debts of the poor built on ProPublica coverage, we have been instrumental to building a progressive dialogue in our community. 

Prior to the pandemic, having brought the Solutions Journalism Network to introduce solutions journalism to media ranging from community and rural radio, to the daily newspaper and local network affiliates, we were poised to work with local foundations to bring Impact Media Funders to Omaha to help build a framework for local, diverse media support, built around progressive issues-focused coverage. 

We have worked closely over the years to cover and provide offline support to the efforts of community organizing groups like the Heartland Workers Center to help drive double digit increases in voter engagement in targeted Black and Hispanic precincts. With hundreds of job fairs under our belt, thousands of local HR contacts and tens of thousands of registered job-seekers on OmahaJobs.com, we’re best positioned to bring new skills and to help transform the local economy with an empowered workforce.