The Chicago News Cooperative announced officially today that it will be suspending its contributions to The New York Times. As of next Sunday, the Chicago organisation will no longer submit articles to The New York Times Midwest pages or to its website.

In a blog post announcing the change, CNC's CEO and editor James O'Shea writes that he takes "full responsibility for this situation". He laments that "unlike similar start-up efforts like the Texas Tribune in Austin, the Bay Citizen in San Francisco and ProPublica in New York, we never recruited the kind of seven figure donations from people of means concerned about the declining quality of news coverage around the country."

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The Journalism Foundation, an independent charitable organisation that aims to encourage press freedom and investigative journalism both in the UK and abroad, has been launched today.

The foundation is backed by the Lebedev family, who became the owners of The Independent in 2010, a newspaper for which Simon Kelner, the foundation's Chief Executive Officer, was editor in chief for ten years. The trustees of this new non-profit, according to the Journalism Foundation's website, are: "Baroness Kennedy, the renowned human rights lawyer, Lord Fowler, former chair of the House of Commons media select committee, and Sir John Tusa, former director general of BBC World Service". Evgeny Lebedev, Chairman of The Independent and The Evening Standard, will head the board.

The organization aims to support public interest journalism by backing investigative journalism, community reporting and encouraging press freedom in nations like Tunisia where, in the aftermath of massive political change, press freedom is a newly nascent possibility. The foundation also aims to establish bursaries for individual journalists and run a yearly award to recognize achievements in the field.

There is an increasing number of new news outfits that depend greatly on the support of their communities. It is thus not surprising that many are turning into ways of engaging with their audience directly through community events. Such happenings aren't only a way to create closer ties with readers - they can also serve as an additional revenue source.

Nieman Journalism Lab reported on such efforts at The Texas Tribune. The Tribune has already hosted over 60 events, and in September it will put on a festival, presenting "debate, discussion and dialogue" on subjects that affect people in Texas. Evan Smith, The Tribune's chief editor and executive, said that such events are not only about journalism - although that is an important aspect of them as well - but they are also a way to produce revenue, from sold tickets and sponsorships.

Faced with both the global recession and the unstoppable momentum of the Internet, traditional commercial models for newspapers are becoming outdated.

Alternative news organisations have emerged, allowing journalism to thrive even in one of the most unstable times newspapers have ever known. The non-profit news sector has attracted a lot of attention in particular, as they are redefining how news organisations work. The newsrooms, which rely on donations, grants, and sponsorships, have been cropping up across the U.S. Although they have been praised for their commitment to investigative journalism and democracy, they have not been collectively put under a giant microscope - until now.