The 19th
The 19th is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization based in Austin, Texas established in 2020. It was co-founded by CEO Emily Ramshaw and publisher Amanda Zamora, both former Texas Tribune staffers who served as editor-in-chief and chief audience officer, respectively.
The organization is named after the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution 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 has said its coverage will initially be, "presidential politics, women and Congress, the women’s electorate, women’s health, women and the economy, and women and the states."
Other executives include Johanna Derlega, chief revenue officer, formerly at The Hill and National Journal; Errin Haines, editor-at-large, and former national writer on race for The Associated Press; and Andrea Valdez, editor-in-chief, previously at the Texas Observer, WIRED.com and Texas Monthly.
While it is building its staff in early 2020 for a launch in the summer, it has a content sharing agreement with The Washington Post. Starting April 22, it plans to kick off a national tour of Austin, Atlanta, Denver, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Seattle in order to help shape its coverage.
The venture is starting out with close to US$5 million in pledged support. Among the funders to the site include Craig Newmark, for $500,000; Kathryn Murdoch for $1,000,000; Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors’ Reproductive Health and Women's Rights Collaborative for $1,000,000; and various amounts from Ford Foundation, Emerson Collective, Knight Foundation, Abigail Disney, Arnold Ventures, the Packard Foundation, and others.
