CalMatters is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, multi-platform journalism organization focused on California state politics and policy. Our mission is to fill the void in state government coverage caused by the decline of traditional journalism organizations and to improve California’s democracy by increasing government transparency, holding politicians accountable, and empowering Californians to participate meaningfully in their own governance. Making California a better place for all to live is our North Star.
In seven years, CalMatters has carved out a leadership role at the center of the media ecosystem in California and become a trusted brand and “go-to” hub for in-depth news and information. We have grown from six employees and 40 media partners in 2015 to a diverse team of 52 and an $8.6 million budget. We now reach one in 10 Californians through our website, our newsletters and other publishing channels; and through our network of 250+ media partners that range from metro newspapers to major market radio stations to local community news sites and ethnic media. We engage and inform Californians by telling the often untold stories of how decisions are made in Sacramento that affect the lives of people in every corner of the state.
With so much misinformation and disinformation at the fingertips of so many, we believe that providing access to fact-based, high-quality, professional journalism is democracy’s best defense. We use a readable, easy to understand approach to complex topics and publish many of our stories in multiple languages.
Our website has generated more than 42 million page views. We have more than 160,000 newsletter subscribers. Nearly 30,000 Californians have attended our events and more than 600,000 have listened to our podcasts. We share our reporting at no cost with our media partners and the public has free and full access to all of the content on our website.
We reach millions more through Apple News, SmartNews, Newsbreak, Spotlight News, Flipboard, Nextdoor, Microsoft News, and Patch’s 150 local California news sites. Our work is also regularly featured in The New York Times’ California Today newsletter and Politico’s California Playbook newsletter. We’ve also expanded our reach to college students who are reading stories and attending virtual events about higher education issues that matter to them, written by our College Journalism Network journalists.
Most importantly, our work is changing California for the better. Our reporting has inspired changes in state policy, new legislation, investigations of lawmakers, regulation overhauls, and discussions in the State Capitol and at kitchen tables.