Matter News

@matternews.bsky.social

7170 Followers 70 Following

Independent, nonprofit news org in Columbus, Ohio, covering arts, music, culture and community.

The exterior of a square gray building, the Columbus concert venue Ace of Cups, with an overlaying Matter x Two Dollar Radio graphic. The image is accompanied by the text: Matter News Community Conversations, The State of Our Independent Concert Venues. 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16. Join artist manager/talent buyer Lisa Cave and Rumba Cafe owner/concert promoter Timothy Eddings to discuss the state of the Columbus live music scene in the wake of Rambling House and the Athenaeum closing, along with the realities of running an independent venue in a time of deep economic uncertainty.
a person with dark hair and glasses flanked by two people with gray hair and holding up a sign that reads "this is the government the founders warned us about." It is accompanied by text that reads: Matter News Community Conversations: Our Folding Institutions. 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 18 at Two Dollar Radio Headquarters. Columbus City Council and Ohio State have both scrapped DEI initiatives in response to Trump administration orders. Join Matter News political columnist Rachel Wenning and OSU associate professor Pranav Jani to discuss the potential damages wrought by these capitulations and what our city and schools could be losing in the process."
A table with framed pictures of people who have died of overdose with a table skirt that reads "gone but not forgotten." The text below the image reads "Matter News Community Conversations: The Past and Future of Harm Reduction. 8 p.m. Thursday, June 19, at Two Dollar Radio HQ. Advocates have expressed concern that recent federal cuts could reverse the downward trend the U.S. has seen with overdose deaths. Join us this month as we talk with Beth Weinstock of BirdieLight and Matter News columnist Jack Shuler about the past and future of harm reduction."
marchers carrying a “solidarity” banner accompanied by text reading: Matter News community conversations: The state of the labor movement 8 pm Thursday, Feb. 20 Matter News labor columnist Mandy Shunnarah will appear in conversation with Ohio Federation of Teachers communications director Neil Bhaerman and members of Central Ohio Worker Center including Isbel Alvarado to discuss the current state of labor, the impact of the Trump administration on immigrant workers, and the reality that unions exist as one of the few places where workers can amass the power needed to fight back against capital.
cover image from an issue of In the Belly featuring a black and white illustration of a hooded individual bending the bars of a prison cell open and accompanied by information about the next Matter News Community conversation taking place at Two Dollar Radio Headquarters at 8 pm on Thursday, Jan. 16. The description for the event reads "Join representatives from the Returning Artists Guild and In the Belly – a publication produced for and by the incarcerated – to talk about the work of prison abolition, the harms enacted by the prison industrial complex, and the challenges of maintaining a sense of humanity while living within a system that treats people as anything but."
orange and white text reading "Matter Annual Fundraiser. We did it! Together we raised nearly $80k."
a thermometer-like bar showing Matter News at $72k raised toward a fundraising goal of $78.
Three trans individuals stand in the center of a church interior. The person on the left wears a dark sweater over a checkered dress. The person in the center wears a black and white dress. And the person on the right wears a jacket, a light colored button-up and a pair of khakis. Accompanying text notes this is the next in the Matter News/Two Dollar Radio Community Conversation series, with this edition focused on supporting the trans community. The event takes place at 8 p.m. at Two Dollar Radio HQ on Thursday, Dec. 19.
Headshot of smiling woman with long brown hair -- the Columbus poet Ruth Awad -- accompanied by a quote that reads "Means of communication is a means of survival. As local newsrooms across the country shutter and consolidate under monopolized media conglomerates, as a free press becomes a rarified commodity both domestically and globally, the essential work of Matter News is truly revolutionary. It is the heartbeat of our community, and we owe it to ourselves to protect it."
Headshot of a smiling woman, Connie Schultz, with long brown hair and accompanied by a quote that reads "Matter News is the embodiment of an essential truth: Every story is about the humans in it. Every story, every column, is a thoughtful dive into what makes us a community. Such meaningful writing helps us better understand this world swirling around us, and encourages us to expand our definition of what it means to belong."