O’Shea had planned to turn the Cooperative into an L3C, or low-profit limited liability company, though those plans were put on hold pending clarification from the IRS. The IRS’ delay in ruling whether news organizations were eligible as tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations reportedly led to the MacArthur Foundation’s decision to drop the Cooperative’s grant.

Many of the Cooperative’s initial staff members were former Chicago Tribune employees, which prompted some criticism that the new organization might not be innovative — a criticism that was also voiced after the Cooperative’s shutdown. O’Shea and other Cooperative staffers said the Cooperative was built around traditional journalism practices, such as city hall reporting.

The Cooperative planned to fund its operations through a mixture of grant money, advertising, and a membership model (at $104 per year) to eventually wean the organization from foundation funding. It also planned to emphasize niche content, such as an education “News Interest Network” and Early and Often, a site built around the 2011 city elections that charged an initial subscription rate of $175, as well other possibilities such as verticals built around arts and culture or health and science, though those plans did not come to fruition.

The membership system was loosely based on the idea of a traditional cooperative, though members won’t be paid dividends. Instead, the surplus revenue would be invested back into producing journalism, O’Shea said.

Ann Marie Lipinski, who was hired as the new curator of the Nieman Foundation in 2011, sits on the cooperative’s board.