Sahan Journal Is Built for When the National Media Leaves

Amid ICE crackdowns on Somali immigrants, a local outlet relies on time and community trust to tell stories others can’t.

For months, Sahan Journal, the Minnesota-based nonprofit news outlet, has been covering the Trump administration’s stepped-up measures against immigrants in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area, reporting on US Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests and how people should approach interactions with ICE. Earlier this month, as the Department of Homeland Security launched an operation targeting Somali immigrants and President Donald Trump referred to the community as “garbage,” Sahan Journal dug in, expanding its coverage of the administration’s policies and their impact on local Somalis.

Created in 2019, Sahan Journal is dedicated to covering immigrants and people of color in Minnesota, which is home to the world’s largest Somali diaspora community. Executive editor Vanan Murugesan is not a journalist by training; he describes himself as a news junkie with an ambition to disrupt the current media financing death spiral. Murugesan set out to be a mechanical engineer, but felt his work lacked meaning and joined the nonprofit sector instead, working most recently with an organization that provides family support, civic engagement, and job readiness programs. When he was offered the top job at Sahan Journal last year, he saw a chance to combine his passion for journalism with his nonprofit expertise.

I spoke with Murugesan this week about how his publication is covering immigration under increasingly trying circumstances, the risks to frontline journalists, and the role of local coverage when legacy media falls short. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.