The Baltimore Banner, a rapidly growing multi-platform news operation that covers a broad range of topics and serves hundreds of thousands of readers, is launching its latest initiative, the Education Hub.
The Education Hub is The Banner’s first community-funded journalism initiative. The Education Hub will expand coverage of the most pressing issues in education, deepening conversations with students, parents, and educators, and providing a centralized online resource hub for Maryland’s education community.
“The Baltimore Banner’s Education Hub will significantly expand the scope of our education coverage, enabling us to serve as an essential resource for Maryland families. The Education Hub’s work will help communities across the state more accurately assess the strengths and weaknesses of local education systems,” said Baltimore Banner Editor in Chief Kimi Yoshino.
The Education Hub seeks to answer the question: What does it take to give every Maryland child a high-quality education? The initiative will address this question with journalism that holds decision makers in the education system to account, highlights solutions to improve children’s lives, and fosters education equity across the state. The newsroom education reporting team currently has two journalists dedicated to the education beat full-time and will soon expand to five reporters. Next week, with philanthropic funding from the Bainum Family Foundation, Maya Lora will start as The Banner’s inaugural early childhood education reporter, joining editor Rachel Mull and reporters Liz Bowie and Kristen Griffith. Jessica Calefati, an investigative reporter at The Baltimore Banner, will soon focus on what tools Maryland kids need to be successful in school, college and careers.
The launch of the Education Hub comes as The Banner celebrates its second anniversary. “We’ve had extraordinary success in our first two years, exceeding our own goals and becoming a trusted and indispensable source of news for the people of Baltimore and Greater Maryland,” said Bob Cohn, CEO of The Baltimore Banner. “Our expanded focus on education is part of the strategy to broaden our appeal to new audiences while serving our mission to inform, strengthen, and inspire Maryland communities.”
Even before it launched, The Banner gained national attention for its innovative business model. The nonprofit organization was founded with the flagship philanthropic investment of Stewart Bainum, Jr., and today is on a path to sustainability through a diversified set of revenue streams, including subscriptions, advertising, and events, as well as individual and institutional philanthropy.
The Banner’s impressive growth in just two years includes:
- Nearly 50K paying subscribers, growing well ahead of projections for 2024.
- A total staff of 120 employees, of which 80 are full-time journalists.
- An expanded newsroom with recent hires from The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, as well as a recently hired Pulitzer Prize-winning data reporter.
- Honors from the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association for News Organization of the Year and Website of General Excellence, as well as 11 Best of Show Awards.
- Distinctive and high-impact coverage of the most important stories in the region, including the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and Baltimore’s opioid epidemic, which was investigated in partnership with The New York Times.
To support The Banner’s work, check out the latest coverage, and subscribe, please visit www.thebaltimorebanner.com.
About The Baltimore Banner
The Baltimore Banner is a multi-platform news operation serving Greater Baltimore and Maryland. Its mission is to provide trusted and indispensable journalism that informs, strengthens, and inspires communities in Baltimore and surrounding Maryland. The Banner has built a nonprofit digital news operation that allows people to access its content across multiple platforms. Its coverage includes topics ranging from politics and criminal justice, to sports, education, and entertainment. To learn more, visit: TheBaltimoreBanner.com .
