The 19th, a nonprofit news organization dedicated to women and politics, has launched with a diverse and overwhelmingly female newsroom and publishing partners to bring its politics and policy coverage through a gender lens to a wider audience.

The first (digital) front page led with a feature on the pandemics disproportionate economic effect on women (Americas First Female Recession) and a slate of election-related coverage, including interviews with potential vice presidential picks Susan Rice and Elizabeth Warren co-published with The Washington Post. The 19th has also cemented partnerships with USA Today Network (which will republish work across their 250 local news markets), Univision, and The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Early on, Ramshaw and Zamora (previously the editor-in-chief and chief audience officer of The Texas Tribune, respectively) knew they wanted a newsroom that reflects the racial, ideological, socioeconomic and gender diversity of American voters. As New York Magazines The Cut noted, 2020 might be the perfect year to build that diverse newsroom from the ground up:

While legacy media grapples with the fact that most employees are overwhelmingly white (77%) and male (61%) and facing pandemic-fueled hiring freezes that make those statistics hard to change the 19th* staff of 22 people is 99% female (the only man on staff is the CFO) and 75% nonwhite.

(OK, one out of 22 is closer to 95%, but the point stands.)

The 19th also sought geographic diversity while hiring and counts residents of Philadelphia, Orlando, Des Moines, and New Orleans among its staff. Editor-at-large Errin Haines told The Cut that The 19th will cover women as issues voters, as rural voters, as educated voters, as blue-collar workers, as Southerners, and as Midwesterners and not treat them as a monolith or single special-interest group.

The 19th has adopted a nonprofit business model and will rely on donations, sponsorships for live events, digital advertising, and paid memberships starting at $19/year. At launch, The 19th counted 611 members giving between $5 and $999 and another 174 giving $1,000 or more.

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The 19th, a new nonprofit newsroom dedicated to women and politics, officially launches - Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard