MIAMI — Jan 15, 2015 — Miami-based media company WhereBy.Us today officially launched The New Tropic, a new local journalism and events brand that serves Miami’s “curious locals” — people who are interested in exploring what the growing city has to offer, learning about and engaging on local issues, and connecting with other residents. The launch is supported by $250,000 from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Related Link
“The New Tropic aspires to help Miamians become better locals” — by Rebekah Monson, Bruce Pinchbeck and Christopher Sopheron Knight Blog, 01/15/2015
As part of the support, The New Tropic recently began publishing a daily email newsletter curating local news and events, and sharing original stories and journalism work. Additionally, Knight funding will go to scaling and testing the WhereBy.Us model for local civic engagement that joins journalism, mobile news delivery and creative events to get people involved in shaping their city.
To this end, the company will produce a wide range of events, including social gatherings, art projects, field trips and community workshops around such areas as health, education, transportation, affordable housing and the environment. Miami residents will also be invited to learn about local issues from journalists, public officials and experts, and collaborate on ideas to improve the city.
“Our goal is to help people be better locals and feel more connected in their city,” said Christopher Sopher, WhereBy.Us co-founder and CEO. “Miami is growing and changing in incredible ways. People sense that and want to be a part of it, but it can be hard to plug in. The New Tropic is designed to make that easier and help locals have the most awesome possible experience living here.”
“Creating connections between creative locals and engaging them in shaping the future of their city is essential to making Miami more of a place where ideas are built,” said Matt Haggman, Knight Foundation program director for Miami. “The New Tropic will help create a model for the kind of engagement and collaborative innovation we need to tackle challenges and improve our city together.”
As part of Knight Foundation’s investment, The New Tropic will organize regular community workshops, free events and journalism stories on important local issues, helping more people understand and engage in local civic life.
Over the past two years, parent organization WhereBy.Us has done similar events on issues ranging from downtown development to health care to transportation, also supported in part by Knight Foundation. In partnership with government agencies, nonprofits and community groups, these open brainstorming events have connected Miamians to civic engagement opportunities and helped generate new projects such as MetroMondays, a transit project, and Buskerfest, a street performance festival. The organization has engaged more than 1,500 in conversations about Miami.
The New Tropic offers sponsorship and creative partnership services to help brands and organizations engage and connect with curious locals through creative content and events. Knight Foundation’s support will allow The New Tropic to offer some of these services for free and at discounted rates to local nonprofits. Interested organizations can contact [email protected].
Support for The New Tropic forms one part of Knight Foundation’s efforts to invest in Miami’s emerging innovators and entrepreneurs as a tool to build community, while fostering talent and expanding opportunity. Over the past two years Knight has made more than 90 investments in entrepreneurship in South Florida.
Users can sign up for The New Tropic newsletter and events at thenewtropic.com/join.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. We believe that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more information, please visit knightfoundation.org.
About WhereBy.Us
WhereBy.Us makes products that help people be better locals. Its first local media brand, The New Tropic, launched in January 2015, publishing a daily e-mail newsletter, original local journalism and producing creative events for locals. Twitter: @newtropicmiami; Facebook: facebook.com/newtropicmiami; Instagram: @thenewtropic
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CONTACTS:
Christopher Sopher, CEO, WhereBy.Us, 305-988-0808, [email protected]
Anusha Alikhan, Director of Communications, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, 305-908-2677, [email protected]