Sahan Journal Taps Vanan Murugesan as New Leader
In the media business, small nonprofit upstarts like Sahan Journal have been a relative bright spot amid industry-wide revenue declines and layoffs. While legacy outlets like CNN, the Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times trim their editorial teams, Sahan Journal has actually grown its staff and readership since it launched five years ago.
Vanan Murugesan, who was formally announced as the Sahan Journal’s next executive director on Monday, is well aware of the challenges in the modern media landscape, but he’s eager to take the reins. He sees a clear market opening for a mission-focused outlet like the Journal, which aims to center the experiences of immigrants and people of color.
“I don’t think news is dying,” Murugesan told TCB in a Monday interview. “People still want the news. Now maybe they are interested in different types of news than in the past, but news, facts, and all of these things are very much still in the interest of the general public. I think what’s changing is how they are receiving the information.”
Slated to begin the new job in September, Murugesan will take over from Sahan Journal founder and CEO Mukhtar Ibrahim, who announced plans to step down from the top job in October.
Though he’s not a journalist himself, Murugesan has a keen understanding of media finances from his prior job at Minneapolis nonprofit Pillsbury United Communities. He worked there for nearly a decade, most recently as head of transformation.
Just a couple years after he started that job, the nonprofit in 2016 purchased North News, a newspaper covering neighborhoods in North Minneapolis. As part of a turnaround strategy for the newspaper, he did a market analysis and reviewed new business models, including shifting the publication from a for-profit model to a nonprofit one. Murugesan described it as an opportunity to “reboot” the newspaper. “It was my first exposure to journalism work,” he said.
Also at Pillsbury United Communities, Murugesan helped reimagine business models for radio station KRSM, which is owned by the nonprofit.
Murugesan, who grew up in Malaysia and holds an MBA from Carlson School of Management, aims to spend the first six months at his new job doing a lot of listening and understanding before making any big changes. “They’ve got the journalism part really well covered,” he said. “My job is to find ways to allow them to continue the good work they’re doing.”
In 2022, Sahan Journal reported total revenue of $2.37 million, the vast majority of it originating from contributions and grants, according to the outlet’s tax filings. At the time, the outlet said it was seeing an average of 60,000 to 150,000 unique web visitors each month. Today, the Journal employs 23 people in its newsroom.
The outlet began a search for a new leader in fall, after Ibrahim announced plans to step down.
“The search committee interviewed a number of diverse and talented candidates with strong roots in Minnesota’s communities of color,” Ibrahim wrote in a note to stakeholders. “In selecting Vanan, the board praised his deep connection to the newsroom’s mission and his track record of success in social enterprise.”
Ibrahim observed the hiring process but did not directly participate, he said. “I believe the board has made an excellent decision and that Vanan is uniquely well-equipped to lead Sahan in its next act,” Ibrahim said.
Laura Yuen, a features columnist for the Star Tribune and president of Sahan Journal’s board, said in a statement that the organization did a national search for a new leader.
“Our national search led us to the right person for this role, in our own backyard,” Yuen said. “Vanan already reflects the best attributes of Sahan: thoughtful, curious and dedicated to serving Minnesota’s communities of color.”
