Suncoast Searchlight grew from a desire to address the local impacts of the nation’s rapidly shrinking news industry and preserve within the region the strength of the fourth estate.

Seeded by a generous grant from the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, that desire first took shape in 2023 as the Community News Collaborative (CNC) – a nonprofit newsroom housed under Tampa Bay-area NPR affiliate WUSF that produced community news for local media partners.

In 2024, the CNC reformed as an independent 501c3 with a separate governing board and a more focused mission of producing investigative, watchdog and explanatory journalism under the name Suncoast Searchlight.