I have a Google alert set up for “Press Forward,” but usually the daily updates it sends me aren’t about the $500 million initiative to revive and support local news. Turns out a lot of journalists like to use that phrase to talk about just about everything.
On Monday, though, I got an update directly from Press Forward, which I wrote about for Poynter.
Here’s the short version: Press Forward announced its first open call for funding, which will include $100,000 each for about 100 newsrooms over two years. The focus is historic inequalities in local coverage.
That means communities of color, said Press Forward’s director, Dale Anglin, but also rural communities and other groups local journalism hasn’t historically served well.
Anglin pointed out that so far, another $54 million has gone out to Press Forward local chapters through the biggest funding bucket, aligned grantmaking. We’re not hearing a lot about that but she did write this:
“When it comes to sustainability and equity, a group of funders, for example, have invested in a range of newsrooms that are meeting their audience where they are – on WhatsApp and via other messaging services. Several like Conecta Arizona and Enlace NC are largely serving Spanish-speaking communities this way, though others are providing news in English and Spanish as well as other languages, including Creole and Chinese (Documented and Mam, an indigenous Mayan language (El Tímpano.) You can read more about these outlets and their impact on our blog.”
Pretty sure that’s here.
The open call for funding seems like the most direct way to get funding from Press Forward, and there will be another later this year that focuses on local news transformation.
In case it helps, here’s a primer I previously wrote on Press Forward.
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