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Charlottesville Inclusive Media wins national ‘Collaboration of the Year’ award

Two women in front of a repeater banner that says "Lion" with an "L" logo hold an award and smile.
Sabrina Feggans and Michaux Hood, with Charlottesville Inclusive Media, accepted an award for "Collaboration of the Year" from LION Publishers in Sept. 4, 2025 at their annual conference in St. Louis, Missouri. Courtesy of LION Publishers

By Atlee Webber and Charlottesville Inclusive Media

Charlottesville Inclusive Media (CIM) is getting national attention for our collaborative journalism.

CIM partners Charlottesville Tomorrow, In My Humble Opinion Radio Show and Vinegar Hill Magazine have won in the “Collaboration of the Year” category for the 2025 LION Sustainability Awards.

The judges said: “Charlottesville Inclusive Media demonstrates strong strategy and foresight in building both outreach and internal support across its partner organizations. Their collaborative efforts have helped expand reach, develop impactful local content, and lay the groundwork for sustaining each newsroom’s growth. This is a model example of how an ongoing, intentional collaboration can strengthen relationships, deepen community trust, and transform an entire media ecosystem.”

Four people in a glowing room stand together, with more people behind them. Left to right, a man in a gray suit jacket, a woman in a headband with a black and white patterned top, a woman in a floral pattern dress and a man in a black polo shirt.
(Left to right) Sarad Davenport of Vinegar Hill Magazine, Aliyah Cotton and Angilee Shah of Charlottesville Tomorrow and Charles Lewis of the In My Humble Opinion Radio Show, celebrated their work in Charlottesville Inclusive Media at their 2024 holiday party. The collaboration is built on a shared belief that news and information in central Virginia can serve everyone. Ézé Amos/Charlottesville Inclusive Media

The award recognizes Local Independent Online News members that are engaged in a collaboration that enhances “journalistic impact, financial health, and/or operational resilience,” according to the LION Publishers announcement.

Since its inception in 2018 and first public-facing projects in 2020, CIM was founded to bring greater representation to central Virginia media and build local media that serves everyone. Over the past two years, the partners introduced a slate of new community-oriented programs that earned the judges attention. 

  • We expanded our network to engage over 25 community leaders in the Informing Our Communities Roundtable, which collaborates to strengthen our local information ecosystem. The leaders reach diverse communities with essential information and are now collaborating to help grow a healthy news and information ecosystem in the region. 
  • This is the inaugural year of an internship program and fellowship program, which are helping give more people pathways into local news.
  • CIM publishes local contributors through the First Person Charlottesville series and hosts Can I Talk to You, C-Ville? public events. These events help bring more perspectives into local decision-making and connect communities across their differences.

Our innovative work has also been featured at national conferences, including the Institute for Nonprofit News’ INN Days, the Collaborative Journalism Summit and American Press Institute conventions.

CIM was among 51 finalists, chosen from a pool of 239 entries. Three organizations total were nominated in our size category. The other finalists are the Investigative Journalism Foundation in collaboration with CTV News and Spotlight PA in partnership with WESA (Pittsburgh’s NPR Station).

The Collaboration of the Year award winners were announced during LION’s Independent News Sustainability Summit on Sept. 3 in St. Louis, Missouri.