Propping up the news: Journalism funder doubles planned grants for local outlets

NEW YORK– A group of journalist funders said Wednesday it would give grants totaling $20 million to 205 small, local news outlets across the country, about double what it planned to do when it sought candidates.

Press Forward said it sifted through about 930 applications before deciding on the grants. The group said 40% of the new grantees are organizations led by people of color, and a quarter serve rural communities. Most outlets receive $100,000 in general operating funds.

That’s real money for organizations like Black Iowa News, founded during COVID to report news about the pandemic; the Nome Nugget, a newspaper covering much of Western Alaska; and Radio Indigena, which works to connect California’s immigrant communities with news broadcasts in indigenous languages.

The group doubled its original funding plans because “we felt the need was now,” said Dale Anglin, president of Press Forward, which raises money and coverage of struggling local news outlets. Outlets with an annual budget of less than $1 million were eligible.

“I think the public only sees the great leaders in journalism, like The New York Times and Associated Press,” Anglin said. “We forget that small is important, small still exists, even if some of them are hanging by a thread.”

Thousands of local news outlets across the country have closed or reduced their workforces over the past two decades due to economic problems, and philanthropic organizations are trying to lend a hand.

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David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him up http://x.com/dbauder.