I hope it is the worst of times in the Twin Cities. But hey, you know what I just recently started saying? “It could still get worse!” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said the DHS’s “Operation Metro Surge” amounts to a “federal invasion,” and I strongly agree. ICE’s actions are making business as usual simply not possible. Human beings are getting ripped out of their homes and vehicles by masked agents without even a nod toward due process. Renee Good’s killing is international news, but the countless other injuries that protestors are enduring remain largely local. This Sunday, I saw a story on Kare 11 about a Purple Heart veteran who was detained for eight hours and denied the ability to speak to a lawyer. Saint Paul Public Schools were closed Tuesday and Wednesday so that teachers could prepare to launch online education. Why do they need that? Because students and their families don’t feel safe.
Our children don’t feel safe. Our neighbors don’t feel safe. I don’t feel safe. But I feel aware. I feel informed. I am also honored that City Cast Twin Cities can be a part of informing you. Our team has been present at crime scenes, protests, and more. We’ve also spoken with lawyers, politicians, and community leaders to bring you closer to what is happening on the streets in the Twin Cities.
I am happy to say we are not alone. In fact, we’re new here. We launched in November of 2025. But we join a community filled with amazing media. We have capable, passionate journalists who share their stories ethically, fearlessly, and bravely. Compared to some metro areas, our legacy media has fared reasonably well in the past fifteen years, with two daily newspapers still kicking! We have established newsrooms chock full of experienced reporters working in radio, online media, and at community papers. God bless them. These newsrooms serve as the backbone of the news ecosystem in the Twin Cities.
But these legacy media institutions are not alone; there is a cadre of great independent journalists who fearlessly get to the heart of a story and provide a perspective that only they can. We want to highlight a couple of these world-class, independent journalists doing profoundly essential work in the Twin Cities during a time when we need all the coverage we can get. History is being made right now in the Twin Cities, and I’m glad to be shoulder to shoulder with these great journalists working away on the first draft.
Caveat: This is an unranked list and an utterly incomplete one. My goal was to highlight some greats whose coverage has been instrumental to my life and work.
If you go to georgiafort.com, you’ll see that the homepage says the organization is “building the future of news,” and I agree. Fort’s journalistic chops were formed in legacy media, and she has over 15 years of experience working in commercial and nonprofit radio and television news. But since 2023, Fort has been charting her own path under the umbrella organization “Center for Broadcast Journalism”. This group not only mobilizes the next generation of media professionals, but they also house a spectacular radio station and spearhead BLCK PRESS, a news group that seeks to “reconnect news to Black culture”.
To follow Georgia Fort or BLCK PRESS on Instagram is to know what is happening from angles that rarely get covered in mainstream media. I’ve seen Fort jump on stories first, but even more impressively, I’ve seen her stick around longer. She’s a national treasure … but she’s a local resource.
One of the most haunting nights of my news-consuming life was watching a Unicorn Riot feed from a protest stemming from the killing of Daunte Wright in April of 2021 at the hands of a Brooklyn Center police officer. The feed captured the stress, the improvisation, the tactics, and the counter-response at a mass protest the size I had never witnessed in person. The feed was consistent, measured, informative, and absolutely in the middle of the action.
Since 2015, Unicorn Riot has been the gold standard in as-it-happens, watch-the-feed news. In a media world where trust can be lost in an instant, Unicorn Riot has charted the exact opposite course. They have gained trust across years of covering the most intense events with the soundest principles. Though they have an international footprint, they are based right here in Minneapolis with Niko Georgiades at the helm.
Full disclosure – I am friends with Toussaint Morrison, the leader and primary voice of On Site Public Media. On Site Public Media’s presence on social media and in community protests for more than five years has been a wonderful addition to our media landscape. One of the most consumed parts of On Site Public Media is Morrison’s multi-cut Instagram videos of himself sharing information, giving his opinion, or responding to other talking heads. The posts are efficient, irreverent, and engaging in the most fundamental sense of the world. These posts often explicitly ask the viewer to reflect on their point of view and on whether the information that was just shared changed their minds in any regard.
Headlines and primary source interviews are at the core of quality journalism, but I thrive in a world where that work is coupled with commentary, dissent, and unorthodox thinking. Additionally, a pinch of humor goes a long way to extend a message’s reach, and Morrison is skilled at peppering in a touch of levity in much of his coverage.
No one has better receipts on Minneapolis politics than Taylor Dahlin. Racket called Dahlin “one of the most consistent and relentless researchers” in Twin Cities politics, and it’s nearly impossible to disagree. Dahlin’s strength is in seeing the news in the minutiae. The sausage-making of local politics isn’t always made in smoke-filled back rooms; it’s just often on page 255 of the PDF that six people downloaded.
Equally valuable to Dahlin’s well-researched reporting is her willingness to draw conclusions and recommendations from said reporting. So many of us are looking for a trusted narrator to outline political positions and evenly summarize where the narrator personally lands in conclusion. For Dahlin, the dogged work of deep diving has often resulted in her reporting changing the conversation, ruffling a feather or two, and even getting blocked for a time on social media sites. It’s all in a day’s work for Dahlin, and all signs point to her getting more done in a day than most of us do in a week. Note: Taylor Dahlin’s blog is not as active now as it is in election years, but she is still sharing regular information on X and Bluesky.
KingDemetrius Pendleton’s photos from January 7 should be enough to recognize him as a premier independent journalist … but his contributions run far deeper than just the past couple of weeks. Pendleton runs Listen Media USA and has produced gallery shows showcasing his gift for framing poignant stills in the middle of intense action. Pendleton was the first photographer on the scene after George Floyd was murdered, and his work in the summer of 2020 is the backbone of his first book, “The Movement Never Stops”.
Since then, Pendleton has amassed a considerable pile of awards and honors based on his unflagging dedication to bringing his camera and his vision to where the story is. Earlier this month, Pendleton was shot in the foot with a chemical munitions canister while covering protests at the Whipple Federal Building. I am deeply disappointed that Pendleton was injured, especially while clearly being identified as press, but I am grateful that his work continues unabated. I’m certain some of his most impressive coverage is yet to come.
Do you have an independent journalist you’d like to recommend? Send us an email at twincities@citycast.fm!
