The 19th, sometimes stylized The 19th*, is a

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

and independent

news organization The news media or news industry are forms of mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public. These include news agencies, newspapers, news magazines, news channels etc. History Some of the first news circulations occurred in ...

based in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. It was founded in 2020 by CEO Emily Ramshaw and publisher Amanda Zamora, both former ''

Texas Tribune ''The Texas Tribune'' is a nonprofit politics and public policy news website headquartered in Austin, Texas, United States. Its stated aim is to promote civic engagement through original, explanatory journalism and public events. ''The Texas Tr ...

'' staffers who served as editor-in-chief and chief audience officer, respectively.

History

The organization is named after the

Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Nineteenth Amendment (Amendment XIX) to the United States Constitution prohibits the United States and its U.S. state, states from denying the Suffrage, right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex, in effect recogni ...

, which gave women the right to vote, reflecting its mission "to empower women—particularly those underserved by and underrepresented in American media—with the information, community, and tools they need to be equal participants in our democracy." Ramshaw said its coverage would initially be "presidential politics, women and

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

, the women's electorate, women's health, women and the economy, and women and the states". The

asterisk The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

used in the stylized name is intended to indicate the organization's view that the Nineteenth Amendment is "unfinished business" as, in practice, the passing of the amendment mainly benefited

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

women. Other executives include Johanna Derlega, chief revenue officer, formerly at '' The Hill'' and ''

National Journal ''National Journal'' is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes ...

''; Errin Haines, editor-at-large, and former national writer on race for the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

; Julia B. Chan, editor-in-chief, previously at KQED, '' Mother Jones'', and ''Reveal'' from the Center for Investigative Reporting; Ben Werdmuller, CTO, formerly co-founder of

Elgg Elgg is a municipality in the district of Winterthur in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. On 1 January 2018 the former municipality of Hofstetten merged into the municipality of Elgg. History Elgg () is first mentioned between 760 and 763 ...

and

Known Knowledge is an Declarative knowledge, awareness of facts, a Knowledge by acquaintance, familiarity with individuals and situations, or a Procedural knowledge, practical skill. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is oft ...

. While it was building its staff in early 2020, the news organization had a content sharing agreement with ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''. Starting April 22, it had planned to kick off a national tour of

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

in order to help shape its coverage, but this tour was later cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The site launched officially on August 2, 2020. The venture started with close to $5 million in pledged support. Among the funders to the site are

Craig Newmark Craig Alexander Newmark (born December 6, 1952) is an American internet entrepreneur and philanthropist best known as the founder of the classifieds website Craigslist. Before founding Craigslist, he worked as a computer programmer for IBM, Bank ...

(500,000);

Kathryn Murdoch Kathryn Hufschmid Murdoch is an American philanthropist whose donations center on democracy reform and pressing global issues. She is known for her marriage to James Murdoch, the younger son of the media mogul, Rupert Murdoch, with whom she founde ...

($1 million);

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that currently advises on and manages more than $200 million in annual charitable giving. Its headquarters are in New York City, with offices in Chicago, Los Angeles and ...

' Reproductive Health and Women's Rights Collaborative ($1 million); and various amounts from the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

Emerson Collective Emerson Collective is an organization focused on education, immigration reform, the environment, media and journalism, and health. Founded by billionaire philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, the collective, which operates under a limited liabilit ...

, the

Knight Foundation The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, also known as the Knight Foundation, is an American non-profit foundation that provides grants for journalism, communities, and the arts. The organization was founded as the Knight Memorial Education ...

Abigail Disney Abigail Edna Disney (born January 24, 1960) is an American documentary film producer, philanthropist, social activist, and member of the Disney family. She produced the 2008 documentary '' Pray the Devil Back to Hell''. Disney and Kathleen Hugh ...

Arnold Ventures Arnold Ventures LLC (formerly known as the Laura and John Arnold Foundation) is a limited liability company that is the philanthropic vehicle of billionaires John D. Arnold and Laura Arnold. As of 2023, the organization had $4.31 billion in asset ...

, and the Packard Foundation. As of March 2021, newsroom leaders said the venture had raised $12 million.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:19th, The 2020 establishments in Texas 501(c)(3) organizations American journalism organizations American news websites Organizations established in 2020 Non-profit organizations based in Austin, Texas Internet properties established in 2020

History

See also

References

External links