– Be a news and information provider who serves residents of the state of New Jersey.

– Adhere to a commonly-accepted professional journalism code of ethics, such as the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics or a comparable code, and indicate to us which code they follow.

– Agree to abide by our Community Guidelines (see below).

– Failure to meet any of the above criteria may be grounds for removal from the network.

– Recognize the value of cooperation and seek opportunities to collaborate for the benefit of citizens.

– Remain open to opportunities to work with the Center and its partners.

– Communicate with the Center to help us identify and address needs, issues, concerns, challenges, opportunities, and goals of our partners and others in the local news and information industry.

– Attend events, trainings, and other initiatives organized by the Center that are relevant to their interests and availability.

– Participate in various surveys and information-gathering initiatives.

– Respect the privacy and personal information of others. No doxing. We strongly discourage people from publishing personal information about others. Do not share personal information about other people that violate their right to privacy.

– Be courteous and constructive. For the sake of a strong and healthy debate, we aim to foster constructive and focused discussion between our members and partners.

– Be open to debate and dissent. One of the most important requirements for maintaining a vibrant intellectual space is to promote and focus on the intelligent discussion of ideas. We are all still learning and no one knows everything.

– Be honest and truthful. Try to be clear and straightforward about what you are saying, but remember that people may interpret your contribution differently than you originally intended. Avoid knowingly disseminating false or misleading information.

– Refrain from personal attacks. Threats and abuse will not be tolerated. We don’t want to stifle debate, but we ask you to find ways to share your views without being divisive, threatening or toxic to others.

– Watch your language. Racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of hateful speech will not be tolerated. There is a difference between criticizing ideas and attacking people on the basis of their race, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, etc.

– Avoid blatantly commercial or spam-like material. Sharing information that is intended solely for commercial purposes is not permitted.

– Moderators have the final say. When it comes to online forums, groups, and other communication channels, our moderation style is pretty tolerant. Most forms of self-expression are fine, even some of the more colorful or questionable forms, but try not to go overboard. Moderators of our online communities reserve the right to edit or remove a post if it violates any of the above guidelines.

The Center for Cooperative Media is a program housed within the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University, and its mission is to grow and strengthen local journalism and support an informed society in New Jersey and beyond. The NJ News Commons is the Center’s flagship project and it refers specifically to the network of organizations and individuals who have agreed to be members of the Commons.

We are currently funded with operational support by Montclair State University, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Democracy Fund, and Abrams Foundation.

In the past, the Center has been able to provide stipends to seed startups and pay for business coaching, fellowships, collaborative reporting projects and revenue experiments. Each of these opportunities has been project-based, however; the Center is not set up to make grants. You can learn about project-based funding we offer by subscribing to our daily and monthly newsletters.

A list of current NJ News Commons members is available at this link, via Airtable. Additionally, members with lapsed or idle memberships will receive email notices from the Center for Cooperative Media about how to help restore their active membership status.

Because the Center for Cooperative Media is a primarily grant-funded initiative at Montclair State University, most of what we offer NJ News Commons members is provided at no cost to our members. So you don’t have to pay to join, but you do have to participate. And there are different ways you can show up and support local news as a member of the New Jersey News Commons. Learn about current programming and activities here.

However, please note that some of our trainings, events and conferences have registration fees, which will be clearly noted on registration forms.

We highly encourage New Jersey media who qualify to join the Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers and the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN). The Center regularly works with both groups, and we have even paid for free membership to LION in the past.

The NJ News Commons is different in that it is exclusively focused on local news in New Jersey. At the Center we are committed to expanding news and information access to residents across the state. Through the NJ Commons we’ve formed relationships with and helped the efforts of news organizations and freelancers including journalists and media creators.

Currently we are branching out to create a more inclusive membership structure, and adding to our roster of programming and resources for those working within and interested in the state of New Jersey’s news industry.

The annual NJ News Commons survey includes a question about preferred means of contact. You can also reach out to the Center and the Commons at [email protected] to update your contact information.

Members of the NJ News Commons have access to business and journalism coaching, as well as feedback on grant submissions and more. Any member of the Commons is welcome to call, email, text or otherwise ping the Center when you have a difficult issue to work through, need advice, or need a connection or a referral. Need guidance on an upcoming project? Let us know! The Center can also help connect you to legal, research, grant writing, start up and other resources.

Currently, the Center does not provide start-up funding. However, the Center provides a number of support and growth opportunities for fledgling news organizations including training, coaching, referrals to grant and other funding opportunities and grant application reviews, as well as the new NJ Media Mentors program which pairs veteran news professionals with newly launched NJ newsrooms and information projects. To learn more about this and other Center initiatives that support news startups, contact us at [email protected].

The Center will maintain a membership tracking system to ensure that all statuses for NJ Commons members are current. Once a member submits an application and fills out our annual survey, you are considered to be in good standing. By completing the survey the following year, members meet the minimum requirement for continued NJ News Commons membership. In addition, you can always contact us at [email protected] to inquire about your membership status.