Journalists as founders: building independent media under political and platform pressure
Sat 18 April 2026
09:30
Free
Calculating distance...
Newsrooms today face simultaneous pressures: political hostility, declining trust, platform dependency, and the integration of AI. Rather than waiting for legacy institutions or technology companies to determine the future, some journalists are building independent media organizations designed for resilience, independence, and direct relationships with their communities. This panel brings together founders who have launched and sustained independent news initiatives while navigating real-world constraints and threats.
Maritza Félix has pioneered community-driven local journalism through Conecta Arizona, a bilingual and bicultural news organization by and for immigrants, leveraging WhatsApp, social media, and in-person events to deliver real-time news and important resources.
Roman Anin founded iStories after facing political repression in Russia, creating an investigative newsroom built for resilience across borders.
Jennifer Brandel co-founded Hearken and has helped news organizations redesign their structures around audience power rather than platform logic.
Sergio Spagnuolo has launched investigative and data journalism initiatives that investigates the impact of digital technology in society.
Djordje Padejski, Associate Director of the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford University and a journalism scholar, will moderate the panel, bringing extensive experience in newsroom leadership, entrepreneurship, and journalism education.
Sponsored by John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford University.
Modified more than a month ago
Event collection
Pages involved
Roman Anin
Roman Anin is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of iStories Media. He began his career at the daily Novaya Gazeta where his stories revealed corruption and cronyism in the military, politics and business, including construction contracts for the Sochi Olympic Games. He was a member of the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation Panama Papers, which uncovered $2 billion in secret offshore deals and loans that benefited the close circle of President Vladimir Putin. In 2019, he founded the independent investigative outlet Important Stories (iStories). iStories recently produced an investigation into Telegram’s infrastructure and its links to Russian authorities. Roman is the winner of the 2020 ICFJ Knight Trailblazer Award and the 2021 European Press Prize Investigative Reporting Award.
Jennifer Brandel
Jennifer Brandel is an award-winning journalist and media entrepreneur transforming how the public engages with news and democracy. She founded Hearken, which helps organizations design participatory processes to better serve their communities, and pioneered audience-first journalism with Curious City at WBEZ Chicago. Her work has earned the 2024 AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award, the 2016 Media Changemaker prize, and a spot among 30 World-Changing Women in Conscious Business. She co-founded Election SOS (a training network supporting journalists), Zebras Unite (a global network reimagining entrepreneurship), and helped launch the Advancing Democracy Fellowship and Knight Election Hub. Brandel is a 2026 JSK fellow at Stanford, a Columbia Sulzberger Fellow, and an RSA Fellow.
Maritza Felix
Maritza L. Félix is an award-winning freelance journalist, producer, and writer in Arizona. She is the founder and director of Conecta Arizona, a Spanish-language news service that connects people in Arizona and Sonora primarily through WhatsApp and social media. She is the creator of Cruzando Líneas, a podcast of new border narratives. She is co-producer and co-host of Comadres al Aire. In 2022, Maritza was named Innovator of the Year by the Local Media Association and received the 2022 Cecilia Vaisman Award for Best Hispanic Multimedia Journalist from Northwestern University and NAHJ. She is a senior fellow in the JSK Community Impact Fellowship program at Stanford and a graduate of the Executive Program in News Innovation and Leadership in Journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. She is also a fellow of The Carter Center, the Education Writers Association (EWA), Feet in 2 Worlds (Fi2w), IWMF’s “Adelante” and Listening Post Collective; she is part of Take The Lead’s 50 Women Who Can Change the World of Journalism 2020. Felix has twice been named “Arizona’s Best Spanish Language Journalist” and one of the “40 Hispanic Personalities Under 40 in Arizona.
Djordje Padejski
Djordje Padejski is a computational journalism scholar, investigative journalist, and media strategist working at the intersection of journalism, artificial intelligence, and the future of news. As Associate Director of Stanford University’s John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships, he mentors fellows and alumni in newsroom leadership, innovation, and entrepreneurship —guiding them from identifying funding to scaling high-impact projects. His work empowers journalism leaders to push boundaries, foster collaboration, and drive change in the industry—helping them innovate and adapt to the evolving media landscape. In addition to his role at JSK, Djordje teaches journalism and artificial intelligence at Stanford and ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, where he is also earning his doctorate in computational journalism. His research critically examines the impact of AI on journalism and media ecosystems—analyzing both its disruptive and transformative aspects, as well as the role of media in reporting on AI. His work challenges the hype-driven storytelling around AI and advocates for AI literacy and more investigative scrutiny of AI technologies. A veteran investigative journalist, editor and newsroom leader, Djordje has worked with top investigative outlets, including the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), The Center for Investigative Reporting, OCCRP, and The Center for Investigative Journalism in Serbia, which he co-founded and directed. As a core member of the groundbreaking Offshore Leaks investigation, he contributed to an award-winning ICIJ project that led to high-profile resignations and policy changes worldwide. As a Knight Fellow at Stanford in 2012, he developed innovative journalism tools, including FOIA Machine (now with MuckRock), a public records platform that has since become an important resource for investigative journalists. His ongoing work—through teaching, mentorship, and research—focuses on empowering journalists with the tools, knowledge, and critical frameworks needed to investigate the growing influence of AI on society.
Sergio Spagnuolo
Sérgio Spagnuolo is a Brazilian journalist, news product developer and entrepreneur, currently based in São Paulo. He is the founder and executive director of Nucleo Jornalismo, an award-winning news organization that investigates the impact of digital technology in society. Spagnuolo is a pioneer of data journalism in Brazil, having founded in 2014 Volt Data Lab, Brazil's first data-driven news agency, where he has collaborated on, and led, dozens of projects for newsrooms and NGOs. He co-created Atlas da Notícia in 2017, Brazil's first open-source project mapping news deserts and local media initiatives. Additionally, his extensive newsroom experience includes work with Reuters, O Estado de S.Paulo, Aos Fatos, AméricaEconomia, Mergermarket, and Yahoo News Brasil. His reporting has been published by major Brazilian news organizations. Spagnuolo was an ICFJ-Knight Fellow, ICFJ TruthBuzz Fellow and a Tow-Knight Fellow at CUNY's Entrepreneurial Journalism Program. He also served on the board of the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalists (Abraji). He is also a Knight Latin American Fellow, class of 2026.