Our mission
To provide cross-cultural feature writing and bold investigative reporting in the Chico area of the Northern Sacramento Valley.
We cover issues that are often overlooked by traditional media that are starved for resources and unable to provide the in-depth coverage investigative reporting produces. ChicoSol provides a digital platform for stories that span cultural borders, including those related to race, ethnicity, immigration status, language and class, and we examine how power and policy affect vulnerable communities.
We follow the stories that often get dropped by traditional news outlets as we seek those who are accountable and those who can help find ways to address the community’s most vexing problems.
Engaging Butte County communities
As a trusted source of news and information, ChicoSol provides in-depth features that encourage and enlarge community discourse; investigative reporting in the community’s interest; and mentorship to young journalists.
According to the Medill State of Local News Report 2025, 1,524 counties across the country have been left with only one remaining news source. The rate of newspaper closures “ticked up to 136 this past year, a rate of more than two per week,” the report says.
Since its 2007 founding, ChicoSol has been a leader in Butte County, modeling an alternative to traditional, for-profit print journalism. Founded in 2007, ChicoSol is a digital, not-for-profit news outlet, providing the community with coverage it would otherwise not have had and leading the way in developing a new model for local news delivery.
Fact-based reporting & guest commentaries
ChicoSol plans to establish itself as a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit and therefore does not endorse political candidates. We run guest commentaries that reflect the views of the author, not the organization.
Write to ch**********@***il.com to inquire about running a guest commentary.
Community-run, reader-supported
ChicoSol is accountable to its Butte County readers, not to corporate interests. Revenue provided by donations and fellowships fund reporting with almost no overhead. To become a donating member of the ChicoSol community supporting independent news, click here. A tax-deductible donation will help our effort to open a full-time salaried position.
Guiding principles
- News is a public good that will be available and accessible to all community residents, not a product to be used for profit-making;
- Context, background and accuracy are key in quality reporting and more important to us than scoops;
- Fairness and balance will be provided through consideration of diverse and dissenting viewpoints;
- As journalists our duty is to provide accurate and true information and to expose or correct when given misinformation;
- Fair pay for news reporting must be built into our business model; the lack of fair compensation has unjustly excluded too many people from journalism careers.
Our editorial independence
ChicoSol’s work is supported by our members and fellowships. See ChicoSol’s Founders Circle, a listing of early and major donors, here. We maintain a firewall between news coverage and revenue sources and guarantee financial transparency, subscribing to the standards of editorial independence adopted by the Institute for Nonprofit News:
- Our news judgments will not be based on or influenced by any revenue source.
- We will not solicit anonymous donations, but may accept them as long as no more than 15 percent of our total annual revenue comes from anonymous donors.
- We ensure transparency by listing gifts totaling more than $5,000 in a calendar year.
- We may accept donations to support the coverage of particular topics, but will maintain editorial control of the coverage and cede no right of review or influence, nor of unauthorized distribution of editorial content.
- We decline charitable donations from political parties, elected officials or candidates seeking public office, as well as local government.
- We retain full discretion over what stories our reporters cover and how and when.
Rapid growth and re-launch
ChicoSol was launched by Henri Flores and Leslie Layton, initially serving as a bilingual classroom teaching tool. Leslie was an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Journalism at California State University, Chico, and a freelance writer. It rapidly evolved into a bridge between the campus and community and soon began publishing professional writers as well as student journalists on a digital platform.
We developed a readership in the community through a free subscription system, publishing stories in both English and Spanish and establishing ourselves as a leader in the non-profit digital news field. We now look forward to a re-launch in early 2026 with a reader-friendly website and more robust Spanish-language section.
Our stories have been reprinted with permission by the Chico News & Review (CNR), American Community Media and elsewhere. We’ve collaborated on projects with Pro Publica, Cal Mattersth and the CNR. We’re currently collaborating with community radio station KZFR on the weekly “Zephyr News” program. Email ch**********@***il.com with collaboration opportunities or for permission to reprint a ChicoSol story.
Subscribe to our newsletter
With the addition of a full-time reporter in 2025 funded by the California Local News Fellowship program, our audience has grown to about 42,000 monthly unique visitors. In response we have launched our free weekly newsletter, The Little Sun, that highlights new stories. Subscribe here to receive our newsletter.
Recent awards
2025
Yucheng Tang’s 2024 story of cultural rediscovery, showcasing traditions from Chinese and Latin cultures, won first place in culture reporting from American Community Media.
Tang earned second place from California News Publishers Association (CNPA) in the Local Coverage of Election 2024 category for a story on the District 7 Chico City Council race.
Tang and freelance photographer Karen Laslo were awarded fifth place from CNPA in the Homelessness Reporting category for the article “Haven of Hope on Wheels.”
2024
ChicoSol was awarded a first place from CNPA in the prestigious Community Focus category. The award honored the 2023 stories by Natalie Hanson and Leslie Layton on the gender identity lawsuit filed against Chico Unified School District by a local mom.
Contributor Natalie Hanson won the top award from Ethnic Media Services in the category “The Rise in Hate Crimes and Efforts to Find Healing.” ChicoSol also placed fourth in both Investigative Reporting and Health Reporting.
2022
Contributor Dave Waddell was recognized with a Freedom of Information Award from the Society of Professional Journalists Northern California. He placed fourth in investigative reporting for this series in the annual contest run by the California News Publishers Association (CNPA).