A few updates and answers about the $500 million effort to help local newsrooms Email not displaying correctly?
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Last week, I wrote a primer on the basics of Press Forward ([link removed]) , the initiative that will put $500 million into local newsrooms starting very soon.
This week, I want to offer a few additions, clarifications and some answers to the questions you sent.
First, an addition to the primer, which you will find on the site but didn’t make it into the newsletter, is the question of what helped inform Press Forward’s approach.
If you haven’t already, dive into The Roadmap For Local News ([link removed]) . That guidance comes out of a yearlong research project and was written by Elizabeth Green of Chalkbeat, Darryl Holliday of City Bureau, and Mike Rispoli of Free Press, as well as other contributors. It focuses on the emerging practice of civic media, which “seeks not simply to ‘inform,’ ‘entertain,’ or ‘engage,’ but to equip people with the information they need to make the places they live better: civic information. Networks of civic media practitioners — in digital news startups, grassroots community groups and think tanks, libraries and schools, and public media institutions across the country — are blossoming and poised for dramatic expansion.” You can see more here ([link removed]) .
Next, a clarification on one part of the funding, the pooled and aligned funders.
“Pooled funders believe that their contributions are better off made as part of a group,” Rebecca Dinar, director of communications for the Knight Foundation, told me in an email. “They may or may not ‘already’ give to journalism. And alternatively, aligned funders, may be new to funding journalism — but they are not pooled because they believe their commitments will be better off if made directly.”
Finally, I got two questions from Local Edition subscribers for which Dinar offered answers. The questions:
* What, if anything, can or should this consortium do about organizations, especially Alden Global Capital, operating under Heath Freeman’s leadership, that are decimating newsrooms across the country? Is there a strategy for dealing with this threat to local news operations?
* What will define legitimate journalism?

“We believe it’s important to look at news as a business vulnerable to the same supply and demand rules as any another business in America,” Dinar wrote. “That’s why at Knight, our goal is to make the tool and services that every newsroom needs as accessible and inexpensive as possible. It is our belief that by bringing those costs down journalists will be able to focus on the reporting that communities want and need. The best way to support local news is to make those news outlets successful — with content and products that are in demand. Trust in journalism is a measure worth watching.
“Another measure of journalistic success is the provision of information that enables communities to actively participate in decisions affecting their daily lives,” she continued. “Success, for us, is evident when communities possess the necessary information to engage in discussions that influence their elected leaders, ensuring representation of ideas and projects that result from meaningful community discourse.”
One more Press Forward update: The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has expanded its Local Legal Initiative to Indiana. It “will hire an attorney to work in Indiana and provide direct pro bono legal support to local journalists and news organizations pursuing enterprise and investigative reporting in their communities.” The expansion is part of Press Forward Initative, the press release says, to “rebuild local news and information, especially for Black, Hispanic and Latino, immigrant and refugee, and low-income audiences who have not been served.” Read more here ([link removed]) .
More on all this to come.
Next, a few non-Press Forward things to share:
* This year’s State of Local News Report ([link removed]) includes something I’ve been reporting/speaking/harping on for a while in the bigger discussion about local news —bright spots ([link removed]) .
* I don’t think you have to be a Gen Xer to appreciate ([link removed]) that Steve-O of “Jackass” fame is appearing in Lakeland, Florida, for an event to support LkldNow, an independent online newsroom.
* A few training opportunities from Poynter: Newsrooms around the country are changing how they cover crime. Join them through Transforming Local Crime Reporting Into Public Safety Journalism ([link removed]) , a 24-week course. Apply now for the first Lead With Influence ([link removed]) of 2024. This is a fantastic cohort of people who aren’t managing other people, but they are leaders (and I teach in it). And brush up your grammar skills and more with the Poynter ACES Intermediate Certificate in Editing ([link removed]) .
* And here’s a lovely tribute ([link removed]) by Rick Hutzell on Fran Jaques, a writer who “defined an era of journalism in Annapolis.”

Finally, it’s year-end giving time ([link removed]) , so here’s my pitch: The Poynter Institute is a nonprofit organization, and we are funded by donations, grants, and income from journalist training — the last of which is affected by the budget difficulties facing many news organizations. If you value my work on this newsletter, our teaching and the stories about the media industry and insights from industry experts you find on poynter.org ([link removed]) , your donation ([link removed]) will help us continue to do that work for our readers. Even a little bit helps. Thank you!

That’s it for me. My youngest turned 13 yesterday, so I’m now the parent of two mostly marvelous teenagers. Thoughts and prayers are still welcome. 🥳
Kristen
Kristen Hare
Faculty
The Poynter Institute
@kristenhare ([link removed])

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