Model and Strategy
Capital B is a Black-led news organization launched in 2022 to connect and engage Black communities through trustworthy journalism that informs, empowers, and drives change. Its model combines a national newsroom, which reports on issues affecting Black Americans broadly, with local newsrooms rooted in majority-Black communities that deliver practical, community-informed coverage.
Currently operating in Atlanta, Georgia, and Gary, Indiana, Capital B pairs rigorous reporting with deep engagement. Journalists live in the neighborhoods they cover; engagement editors hold office hours, neighborhood walks, and listening sessions to ensure residents help shape coverage priorities. Each newsroom begins with a listening tour to identify top concerns, such as housing safety in Atlanta or economic development in Gary, and designs beats around those community priorities.
“At Capital B, we strive to be both a mirror and a window: a mirror that reflects the real lives of Black people in America—from the rural South to major cities—back to those living them, and a window that helps others understand these realities.” — Lauren Williams, CEO and Co-founder
Capital B’s distribution strategy is equally community-centered. In Gary—one of the nation’s least-connected cities—its additional offline model combines a free monthly print paper, Gary Monthly (5,000 copies distributed across libraries, transit hubs, and housing sites), with a weekly radio segment, This Week in Gary, on the city’s legacy radio station WLTH. In Atlanta, where digital penetration is stronger, the newsroom complements investigative work with text-message alerts, social explainers, and community events. Together, these approaches work toward an “algorithm-proof audience,” ensuring access to reliable information regardless of social media platforms or broadband access.
A key part of Capital B’s model is developing and advancing Black journalists and community contributors who can tell essential stories with cultural competence and care. The organization invests in practical skills training, mentorship, and professional development for local citizens and early career journalists, helping build a more representative media landscape while deepening trust between journalists and the communities they serve.
Over the next several years, Capital B aims to strengthen engagement infrastructure, expand its offline distribution network, and build the operational capacity for its next 1-2 local newsrooms, likely in the South or Midwest, where news deserts disproportionately affect Black residents.
Impact
In just three years, Capital B has shown how local, community-rooted journalism can lead to measurable change, from safer housing and increased civic engagement to revived local information ecosystems.
In Atlanta, a chance conversation outside a laundromat led to a yearlong investigation of dangerous conditions at the Fairburn & Gordon Apartments. The coverage went viral on TikTok (450,000+ views), prompting inspections that uncovered 81 code violations, HUD’s withdrawal of funding, and relocation of 23 families to safer homes. Residents—many initially skeptical of the media—became active participants in the reporting process via group texts and community meetings, later joining advocacy efforts funded by a $200,000 local grant inspired by the reporting. A number of former residents have also become housing advocates.
In Gary, where broadband access is scarce, Capital B has built a thriving offline news ecosystem. Its print newsletter, Gary Monthly, and the This Week in Gary radio program reach thousands of residents monthly, while community events like Thriving Together (with AARP) and youth partnerships with organizations like At All Costs Youth Sports foster intergenerational engagement. Surveys show tangible civic impact: 38% of readers reported that Capital B motivated them to vote in a local election, and many cited its guides for connecting them to local resources.
At the national level, Capital B’s investigative and rural reporting has brought stories of Black life often overlooked by mainstream media into national consciousness. Coverage of the first Black mayor in a rural Alabama town being barred from office led to national outcry and the mayor’s eventual seating; reporting on environmental contamination in Louisiana spurred new federal scrutiny and litigation.
Capital B measures success not in clicks but in outcomes: policy shifts, informed residents, and strengthened civic agency. Its hybrid model of rigorous reporting, offline distribution, and deep engagement is restoring trust where traditional media failed, showing that journalism can once again be both rooted and transformative in Black communities.
Leadership
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Lauren Williams
CEO & Co-Founder
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Kelly Virella
Executive Editor
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Akoto Ofori-Atta
Chief Audience Officer & Co-Founder
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Gillian White
Chief Revenue Officer