North Carolina Local News Lab Fund Invests $370,000 in 29 Local News and Community Organizations During March 2024 Grant Cycle
The North Carolina Local News Lab Fund renews support of a wide range of trusted messengers who connect their communities with the information they need to thrive.
(Raleigh, North Carolina) April 23, 2024 - In its latest grant cycle, the North Carolina Local News Lab Fund has awarded $370,000 to 29 local news and community organizations. These latest investments from the Fund support a diverse range of roles in North Carolina’s information networks, including journalists, community organizers, health workers, storytellers, and a wide range of trusted messengers.
Since 2017, the Fund has invested $4.9M in North Carolina’s growing news and information ecosystem and activated nearly as much in aligned funding. Grants distributed by the Fund are designed to provide flexible funding that helps organizations sustain their work, experiment with solutions to information problems, and meet their communities’ needs.
“Every day, our grant partners demonstrate what a transformed, equitable news and information ecosystem can look like — one where everyone in North Carolina has the information they need to make decisions about their lives and participate in our democracy,” said Lizzy Hazeltine, Director of the North Carolina Local News Lab Fund. “We aimed to deliver resources earlier in the year than in past grant rounds, so that our partners can have the flexible funding they need for their work in a critical year.”
The Fund’s grant partners represent a diverse range of organizations that are expanding reporting and information access, challenging dominant narratives, and activating the stories and storytellers of North Carolina. Half of its grant partners publish or operate in a language other than English, and together partners reach nearly two-thirds of the state’s 100 counties. The current partner cohort includes:
Refugee Community Partnership, driving language justice and health equity by creating systems that eliminate structural barriers to access.
Salud Sin Fronteras, serving the Hispanic/Latinx, immigrant, and refugee communities of southeastern North Carolina, with initiatives that include expanding digital equity and financial literacy.
Triad City Beat, increasing transparency, visibility, and deeper understanding about local politics and city government through CityBeat, a Fund-supported project that makes its reporting free to read and share.
You Can Vote, providing clear, accurate information that helps community members prepare to participate in the 2024 elections and beyond, with a focus on groups who are historically marginalized.
The Fund’s grantmaking is supported by its funding partners, BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina Foundation, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Cumberland Community Foundation, Democracy Fund, Dogwood Health Trust, Inasmuch Foundation, Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, Prentice Foundation, and Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.
Here are the latest round of grant recipients:
AMEXCAN: $15,000
Triad City Beat: $10,000
Border Belt Independent: $10,000
Carolina Public Press: $10,000
Charlotte Journalism Collaborative: $15,000
Code the Dream: $10,000
El Centro Hispano: $15,000
Emancipate NC: $15,000
Enlace Latino NC: $25,000
Hola Carolina: $15,000
ISLA NC - Immersion for Spanish Language Acquisition: $10,000
JMPRO Community Media: $15,000
Migrant Roots Media: $10,000
Narrative Arts: $15,000
NC FIELD: $15,000
NC Local News Workshop and NC Open Government Coalition's News Information Summit: $5,000
North Carolina Health News: $15,000
Qnotes Carolinas: $10,000
RAFI-USA: $10,000
Refugee Community Partnership: $10,000
Salud Sin Fronteras: $10,000
Student Action with Farmworkers: $15,000
Support the Port: $15,000
Toxic Free NC: $10,000
WFAE - University Radio Foundation, Inc.: $15,000
WNC Health Network: $15,000
WNCU at North Carolina Central University: $15,000
Working Films: $10,000
You Can Vote: $10,000
For more information about the Fund, visit www.nclocalnews.org.
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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. 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 NC Local News Lab Fund, contact Lizzy Hazeltine, lizzy@nclocalnews.org.