Our Mission

The mission of CCM is to serve news organizations that provide essential local coverage for populations whose voices and issues are underrepresented in mainstream media. The Center serves as a hub of information, resources, and training aimed at increasing the sustainability of this news media sector.

Our Work

Community and ethnic media outlets are essential sources of trusted information for millions of Americans, yet they remain underfunded, understudied, and often overlooked by policymakers, philanthropies, and the broader journalism industry. CCM has worked to bridge this gap by:

• Conducting original research on the state of community media and the impact of policies
• Providing professional development and training to strengthen editorial, business, and digital operations for resource-strapped publishers
• Facilitating access to funding, data, and policy resources that promote sustainability and innovation
• Building networks and partnerships among journalists, researchers, and institutions to share best practices and expand visibility

Through collaborations in cities across the country, CCM connects community newsrooms to one another and to the broader media ecosystem, creating opportunities for collective learning and shared growth.

History

Between 2012 and 2019, the Center for Community Media (CCM) was called the Center for Community and Ethnic Media (CCEM). It focused exclusively on New York City, serving as a bridge between community and immigrant media outlets, public officials, mainstream media organizations, and the public at large.

Through close interactions with more than 200 media outlets based in the metro area, CCEM elevated the stature of diverse newsrooms, helped community journalists to develop professionally, and promoted a more collaborative media environment. Garry Pierre-Pierre headed the center as its executive director from 2012 to 2014. Karen Pennar and Jehangir Khattak became co-directors in 2015.

The Newsmakers Series was CCEM’s signature program and consisted of on-the-record conversations between public officials and journalists. New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, Comptroller Scott Stringer, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, then-Public Advocate and current New York State Attorney General Letitia James were among the 50 officials who participated.

CCEM published Voices of NY, a site that curated and translated into English the work of scores of community and ethnic publications, and produced original content. In 2019, Voices of NY migrated to community media outlet City Limits, where it has been renamed Voices of New York. CCEM also hosted the Ippies, an annual awards ceremony that honored reporting in English and other languages by community and ethnic outlets. You can see the 2012-2018 winners here.

Past Initiatives

For the past five years, CCM’s national work has primarily been carried out through our incredible and impactful Asian, Black, and Latino Media Initiatives. These initiatives sunset in 2025, as CCM underwent a strategic planning process to determine how we might continue to support our Initiative media partners in the coming years while also serving those in community media who never had their own initiatives. During their run, these specialized incubators mapped previously unrecognized newsrooms, pioneered vital revenue strategies, and provided a sanctuary for solidarity during some of the most tumultuous years in modern journalism. However, our recent audit revealed that organizing our work community by community inadvertently created silos and left groups like Native and Indigenous media at the margins. Because this growing sector needs a unified approach, we have transitioned to a framework focused on strengthening the community and ethnic media ecosystem as a whole. We invite you to read our full reflection, Evolving the Center for Community Media’s Impact for a New Era, to explore what we achieved, what we learned, and how these initiatives built the foundation for CCM’s next chapter.

See below for the work of these initiatives: