The Oshkosh Community News Network is a membership organization, chartered as a nonprofit corporation in the state of Wisconsin and recognized by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt public charity under section 501(c)3.

The mission of OCNN is to enrich the social and civic life of Oshkosh area communities and create models of online and participatory journalism. Its specific goals are to:

• Advance public understanding of important issues.
• Strengthen the social bonds that tie an increasingly diverse community.
• Empower individual readers as citizens rather than consumers.
• Encourage citizens to be active contributors to news coverage instead of passive recipients of information.
• Provide training opportunities for students and others in written communication and Internet publishing.
• Improve the quality of life in Oshkosh by showcasing local culture, promoting local events and ideas, and bringing the community together through a common focus.
• Serve as an educational laboratory and workshop so that the reporting models it develops can be used and adapted in other places