Publisher’s Note on Next Steps in MN Women’s Press Future — and Your Votes!

As noted in the May/June edit letter, our transition to a consumer-owned media co-op is due in large part to my commitment that a magazine as diverse and social justice–oriented as ours does not move next into the hands of one or two gatekeepers.

Minnesota Women’s Press (transitioning by 2027 into MN Women’s Press Alliance) does the work so many look for and rarely find in media, primarily centering marginalized and community-based voices — the ones not normally at the podium. As the 41-year-old brand moves into its future, I want multiple gatekeepers in editorial meetings to discuss the stories that need covering and the sources, solutions, and action that need to be shared.

We practiced that work in the past year with good success. We had a community-based editorial team of 13 people. Now we would like several editorial teams, each representing topics that our members care about the most — and that we can fund.

As of May 13

Of those longer-term and new members who have filled out our new membership forms, the top issues of interest are, in order:

Collective Health: mental health, mutual aid, physical well-being, housing
The Eco: Revitalizing local ecosystems and economies
Future Forward systems change: addressing inequities with policy and grassroots action, including youth voices
Violence Prevention, including healing trauma
This Is US: showcasing immigrant, labor, and cultural voices

Gatekeeping in traditional media is largely focused on what newsroom editors — who are not necessarily tied to community voices — decide should be covered, and how much reporting time and people power should be involved. Sports and business, for example, sometimes get a lot of attention, compared to social justice issues, because certain readers and advertisers flock to those topics.

In the case of Minnesota Women’s Press, we can cover a handful of topics based on limited budget, and those topics increasingly are guided by what membership and underwriters care about. Our hope is to be able to sustain three or four editorial boards that will connect monthly about story ideas — ideally when we can have two full-time editors and a robust design team for ongoing online coverage and deeper quarterly publications in 2027 to cover each topic with solutions and impending action.

Realistically, we won’t have the funds to do more than that. These are intersectional issues, but the editorial boards will be tasked with deepening, not widening, coverage.

So… now is the time to weigh in on what topics matter to you most, if you have not already voiced your votes. We will be narrowing our scope to the top three or four issues based on your votes and our underwriting support by June 1.