Independent, nonprofit local news for
South Bend, St. Joseph County, and beyond

We investigate the forces shaping your community and hold power to account, empowering you to weigh in.

St. Joe Current is an independent, nonprofit newsroom covering South Bend, St. Joseph County, and beyond. We believe that you have the right to know what’s happening in your community. We’re here to make sure you hear about it. We report on local government, public money, and the development decisions that get made when nobody’s watching. Our investigative unit, The Disclosure, publishes document-driven series. We’re owned locally, not by a corporation somewhere else.

Our Mission

Your Community Watchdog
We report on the important questions being weighed in your community, from data centers to school funding to development projects. Not everyone has time to sit through every board meeting, or the resources to follow up on leaders’ promises. We keep local institutions accountable and make sure you have a say in the decisions that get made in your hometown.

Connecting the Dots
We don’t just report on isolated events, but give you the full picture of what led up to them and the forces at play. We provide critical context to make sense of these conversations, often held by the same people who’ve been in power for decades, so you’re ready to respond to and reshape them.

Slow and Steady, Not Stuck in the News Cycle
Responsible, careful investigations take time. We don’t chase daily stories for instant clicks. We’re built to follow the bigger, deeper, and more complex stories that nobody else will take on, for as long as we have to, which is why we’ll often publish stories in an ongoing series.

Locally Rooted
We remain locally owned and committed to our community. We don’t report for profit. We do it to give everyone who lives here a seat at the table they’ve been denied. The goal is not to be the next Tribune. It is to be the source of local accountability and empowerment the Tribune should have been and never was.