By now it is relatively common knowledge that America's news industry is underoing profound and frequently tumultuous change. Every news organization is affected by the development of the Internet and the resultign changes in revenue streams, audience habits and community needs.

Thus enters the nonprofit model, which allows organizations to pursue a journalistic mission without the competing demands of operating a for-profit business. Nonprofit news startups have been created in communities across the country, most with funding from major donors or foundations. The Knight Foundation alone has funded more than 200 experiments with what it calls a "build to learn" approach.