"What does this mean for nonprofit news organizations? They’re effectively excluded from the D.C. beat. They can’t attend press conferences to ask tough questions, hound congressional staffers, watch floor proceedings, or work from the House and Senate pressrooms while waiting for leaked inside information – you know, the basics of political reporting.

So when the Center for Independent Media, which operates a network of six independent news websites covering both state government and Washington D.C., applied for permanent membership with the Periodical Press Gallery in April, they were denied. The center’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit status was one reason given for the rejection.

Here’s the irony: Even as nonprofit news models are heralded as a way to continue hard-hitting, public-interest journalism and foundations are beginning to bankroll them, their reporters can’t truly act as watchdogs over government. "