About

The DC Line is a nonprofit media organization dedicated to covering local news in our city and providing the information you need to be an active participant in hometown DC. Our team of reporters and editors brings years of experience covering all levels of District government and exploring topics of interest to the city’s residents. Our goal is to provide high-quality journalism about local DC with coverage of politics, public policy, schools, the natural and built environment, and arts and culture.

Founder and editor Chris Kain launched The DC Line in 2018 after spending more than 26 years at The Current Newspapers, where he was managing editor from 1991 to 2017 in charge of news content for five editions that together served most of Northwest DC. While directing coverage of an evolving city, he saw firsthand the gaps left by the District’s for-profit media as the industry was undergoing a period of disruption. The DC Line is still in its nascent form, but we hope you’ll help us bring our vision to life: creating a platform where we can identify and share the most important local stories taking place across the District. We update the website throughout the week with stories, commentaries and news releases, as well as links to news articles appearing in other local media. Each weekday, we send out an email newsletter — District Links, a comprehensive DC politics roundup. Our original reporting includes articles on homelessness, housing and related issues co-published with Street Sense Media. 

The DC Line team includes web developer and designer Prisca Lo Surdo; copy editors Deirdre Bannon, Diane Gross, Anath Hartmann and Katie Lee; and columnist jonetta rose barras. Reporter Will Schick covers DC government and public affairs through a partnership between The DC Line and Street Sense Media. Year one of this joint position was made possible by the Poynter-Koch Media and Journalism Fellowship, The Nash Foundation, and individual contributors.

Contributing writers for The DC Line have included Robert Bettmann, Susan Bodiker, Cuneyt Dil, Michelle Goldchain, Diane Gross, Brennan Hafner, Alexandra Kelley, Steven Kiviat, Will Lennon, Mark Lieberman, Jake Maher, James Marshall, Jennifer Anne Mitchell, Candace Montague, Andria Moore, Taylor Mulcahey, Bill Myers, Athena Naylor, Scott Nover, Kate Oczypok, Pat Padua, Katherine Saltzman, Lee Sturtevant, Graham Vyse and Christian Zapata.

As a nonprofit, our growth depends on community support; for information on how to make contributions, click on the “Donate” tab on our homepage. While in our startup phase, we are operating as a fiscally sponsored organization of DC-based nonprofit organization Day Eight. About $80,000 in initial funding came from the Kain Charitable Gift Fund and Sara B. Kain, supplemented by contributions of up to $1,000 from individual donors and in-kind support from Chris Kain.

Editorial Independence Policy

We subscribe to standards of editorial independence adopted by the Institute for Nonprofit News:

Our organization retains full authority over editorial content to protect the best journalistic and business interests of our organization. We maintain a firewall between news coverage decisions and all revenue sources. Acceptance of financial support does not constitute implied or actual endorsement of donors or their products, services or opinions.

We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals and organizations for the general support of our activities, but our news judgments are made independently and not on the basis of donor support.

Our organization may consider donations to support the coverage of particular topics, but we maintain editorial control of the coverage. We will cede no right of review or influence of editorial content, nor of unauthorized distribution of editorial content.

Our organization will accept anonymous donations for general support only if it is clear that sufficient safeguards are in place to ensure that the expenditure of that donation is made independently by our organization and in compliance with INN’s Membership Standards.

The views expressed in commentaries and columns in our Opinion section do not represent those of The DC Line. We welcome commentaries expressing various viewpoints on local issues of concern, but reserve the right to reject submissions due to time limitations or concerns about relevance, taste and accuracy.

Donor Transparency

We are committed to transparency in every aspect of funding our organization, in line with the policies of the Institute for Nonprofit News.

Accepting financial support does not mean we endorse donors or their products, services or opinions.

We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals, organizations and foundations to help with our general operations, coverage of specific topics, and special projects. Our news judgments are made independently and are not based on or influenced by donors. We do not give supporters the rights to assign, review or edit content.

We will make public the names of all donors who give $5,000 or more per year. We do not accept anonymous donations above that threshold, or donations from sources who present a conflict of interest with our work or compromise our independence.

Supporters who have contributed $5,000 or more in a calendar year are Chris Kain; the late Sara B. Kain; the Fund for Nonprofit News at The Miami Foundation; and The Nash Foundation.