North Carolina Local News Lab Fund Invests $85,000 in Seed Funding for a New Public Media Collaboration
The new initiative, developed by local public media station leaders, will fundamentally shift how public media in North Carolina works together
June 17, 2026 — The North Carolina Local News Lab Fund today announced an $85,000 grant to the North Carolina Public Radio Association (NCPRA), a statewide collective of 13 public media stations. The award serves as initial seed funding for NCPRA’s 13 member stations to develop new collaborative infrastructure and pilot network-wide initiatives — a plan crafted by public media leaders following last year’s Congressional clawback of more than $1 billion in federal funding.
“This project is about far more than recovering from funding cuts. It’s about building a future of expanded collaboration and resilience,” said Lizzy Hazeltine, Founding Director of the North Carolina Local News Lab Fund. “When federal funding cuts hit, local leaders saw an opportunity to build on their history of partnership and design something bigger: a more unified, financially resilient network that communities across the state can count on for local news, emergency information, and culturally relevant programming for years to come.”
That plan emerged from a process driven by local station leaders. In January, the NC Local News Lab Fund convened a cohort of seven station leaders at BPR, WFAE, WFDD, WHQR, WRVS, WNCU, and WUNC, supported by funding from Press Forward’s Public Media Resilience Initiative. Each station received a general operating grant from the Fund. Over six months, station leaders worked with support from independent facilitator Lindsay Foster Thomas — an industry veteran with more than two decades of public media experience — to imagine what a more resilient local public media landscape might look like. Their answer was to pilot a fundamental shift in how North Carolina public media works together. By sharing resources, revenue, and infrastructure, the stations could build a more unified and durable statewide civic media network.
The process prompted the revival of NCPRA, a statewide collective that aims to strengthen how the news is delivered and funded and the network of journalists creating it. Established in 1995, NCPRA has long existed without sufficient capacity. This seed funding now gives NCPRA the foundational resources to act on that vision, building operational capacity to fuel collaboration across the state.
“The North Carolina Public Radio Association of stations (NCPRA) is grateful for the partnership and investment made by the North Carolina Local News Lab Fund in our work toward building a more sustainable financial future for public radio stations in North Carolina,” said Tom Dollenmeyer, General Manager of WFDD and president of NCPRA.
NCPRA’s members will pilot collaboration in four areas:
Emergency communications: A coordinated statewide alerting system will reduce redundant newsgathering and ensure verified, timely information reaches communities during crises.
Reporting and distribution: Collaborative journalism shared across partner stations will expand local coverage statewide without proportional cost increases.
Underwriting sales: Pursuing regional and statewide sponsorships will generate new earned revenue.
HBCU journalism pipeline: Structured mentorship and newsroom integration will give HBCU students direct pathways into public media careers — building a more diverse workforce while expanding reporting capacity now.
Member stations will not only pilot new joint initiatives, but also expand existing partnerships such as collaborative state government coverage currently serving WFAE, BPR, WFDD, WHQR, and WUNC. NCPRA will expand the reach and impact of these efforts across the state, including to the collective’s member stations based at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), which were among the hardest hit by federal funding cuts. For example, WNCU at North Carolina Central University lost nearly 50 percent of revenue and WRVS at Elizabeth City State University lost more than 71 percent.
Three stations based at HBCUs are members of NCPRA: WNCU at North Carolina Central University, WRVS at Elizabeth City State University, and WSNC at Winston-Salem State University. Through renewed commitment to collaboration, shared underwriting revenue, and providing access to information for new audiences, this project expands both who public media serves and who shapes its future.
“WRVS, along with other public media stations at HBCUs, have long shown up for the communities we serve. Helping to bridge the gap between campus and community, our platforms amplify cultural narratives through local programming and student education,” said Melba Smith, Station Manager at WRVS at Elizabeth State University. “HBCU stations and our students are shaping the future of public media every day. By helping to craft this plan, it means the perspectives and stories that we carry into this work have a seat at the table.”
This grant is part of the NC Local News Lab Fund’s capacity-building investments to strengthen and serve the field at the ecosystem level.
To learn more about the next phase of this work and build on this seed funding, funders are encouraged to contact Tom Dollenmeyer, General Manager of WFDD and president of NCPRA, and Ju-Don Marshall, President and CEO of WFAE and president-elect at NCPRA.
About the North Carolina Local News Lab Fund
The North Carolina Local News Lab Fund is a pooled fund established in 2017 to build a resilient news and information network that serves all of North Carolina. The Fund invests in a diverse range of news and community organizations so that everyone in North Carolina can find, trust, and use the information they need to thrive. As the home of Press Forward's local chapters in North Carolina, the Fund also deepens ongoing partnerships with regional and national funders while continuing to advance the vision of informed, connected, and thriving communities across the state. The Fund was founded by a group of local and national funders at the North Carolina Community Foundation and is now housed at NEO Philanthropy.
For more information about the Fund and its partners, approach, and impact, visit nclocalnews.org and sign up for the newsletter.
Contact: info@nclocalnews.org.
About the North Carolina Public Radio Association
The North Carolina Public Radio Association (NCPRA) is a statewide collaborative of public media stations, supporting educational, cultural, and reporting programming through shared resources and joint initiatives. Its 13 member stations span the state, serving communities from the mountains to the coast:
Blue Ridge Public Radio (WCQS), serving western NC
Public Radio East (WTEB), serving eastern NC
WCPE, serving the Piedmont region
WDAV, a service of Davidson College serving the Charlotte area
WFAE, serving the greater Charlotte region
WFDD, a service of Wake Forest University serving the Piedmont Triad
WHQR, serving southeastern NC from Wilmington
WNCU, a service of NC Central University serving the Triangle
WNCW, a service of Isothermal Community College serving the foothills and western NC
WRVS, a service of Elizabeth City State University serving northeastern NC
WSGE, a service of Gaston College serving the Charlotte region
WSNC, a service of Winston-Salem State University serving the Piedmont Triad
WUNC, serving central and eastern NC