North Carolina Local News Lab Fund deepens investment in local news and information with $270,000 in new grants, new funding, a new hire and new ways of working
The North Carolina Local News Lab Fund announces $270,000 in grant awards to bolster sustainability, deepen connections in addition to their new capabilities and new hire to support the news and information ecosystem.
This round of grants brings the Fund’s total direct support to local news and information organizations to nearly $1,000,000 since fall 2018, in addition to in-kind support led by Melanie Sill around revenue and hurricanes, coaching and peer connections. These grants focus on expanding the Fund’s support of ongoing emergency communication work that grew out of last summer’s hurricane recovery grants in partnership with the North Carolina Community Foundation Disaster Relief Fund, partnership building across the state and service of under-resourced newsrooms.
“Strong local news has the potential to build stronger communities, bringing people together and informing their way of life,” said Bobbi Hapgood, a member of the fund’s advisory board. “The NC Local News Lab Fund is a powerful vehicle to reinforce the local news we have and build a stronger network that sustains all of North Carolina.”
The Democracy Fund has renewed its support of the fund with a new grant of $700,000. These funds underscore the urgency of this work, the fund’s existing impact and the potential to drive more.
“The opportunities that have been funded represent part of the more collaborative and connected North Carolina that’s emerging as a result of efforts to support local news across the state, the Fund’s work included,” said Teresa Gorman, senior program associate for Democracy Fund’s local news initiatives. “There’s never been a more important time to support informed and engaged communities, and these grantees will do that by adding new reporters, serving communities and building avenues for greater inclusion. The Fund’s broadened work and expanding team will only move them forward more quickly.”
The North Carolina Community Foundation is honored to steward the NC Local News Lab Fund, according to Jennifer Tolle Whiteside, NCCF CEO and president. “Quality news, information and journalism is critical to our state,” she said. “We could not be more proud of the work happening through the Local News Lab and are proud to continue our partnership.”
In addition to these awards, the Fund will continue its partnership with the North Carolina Network of Grantmakers. Separately, the fund is exploring systems that can address emerging needs in the news and information ecosystem.
The Fund also welcomes its first Coordinator, Lizzy Hazeltine, to further expand its capacity to serve the state. Hazeltine brings a deep background in business models, community building and growing support for local news in the state at a vital time to help build the support of local news via innovative approaches such as foundation funding. Hazeltine will work with other funders, grantees and partners across North Carolina to address community news and information needs and marshal resources for news organizations of all types.
The grantees include:
The American Press Institute to extend coaching around topics that arose from the Independent Publishers Revenue Summit hosted in Southern Pines in July.
Enlace Latino NC to map and understand emergency communications for the Spanish-speaking Latinx community in eastern North Carolina.
The News & Observer to set up a collaborative internship program with North Carolina historically black colleges and universities.
Southerly to convene communities and media in eastern North Carolina around the topic of the environment.
The North Carolina Press Foundation to pilot an effort designed to improve the digital footprint of small publishers with website help and digital skills training.
The News Reporter through the North Carolina Press Foundation to explore the potential for a shared investigative reporting resource for parts of eastern North Carolina.
Working Narratives and Asheville Writers in the Schools and Communities: Voz de los Jovenes/Word on the Street, to support their operations and to support a covening of youth media programs to strengthen the field in North Carolina.
GroundTruth’s Report for America Project to furnish a portion of the local support for each NC-based Report for America selected in this year’s cycle.
The NC Local News Lab Fund was established at NCCF in 2017 by a group of local and national funders who believe in the power of local journalism, local stories and local people to strengthen our democracy. Financial support from Democracy Fund, the Prentice Foundation and Park Foundation powers an ecosystem strategy that combines grantmaking with programming designed to build sustainable revenue models and connections.
The Fund has invested nearly $1,000,000 in North Carolina organizations in three rounds of grants. Grantee organizations are currently serving communities recovering from hurricanes, youth learning about the power of their voices and the information needs of North Carolinians from the mountains to the sea. The Fund works to ensure that all North Carolinians have access to the local news and information they need to make their communities thrive.
Press Release originally posted by NC Community Foundation
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About the North Carolina Local News Lab Fund
The North Carolina Local News Lab Fund is a pooled fund at the North Carolina Community Foundation dedicated to building a more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive news and information ecosystem in North Carolina. Through grantmaking, boosting collaboration, and amplifying lessons and success stories, the Fund works to ensure that everyone in North Carolina can find, trust, and use high-quality news and information, delivered by providers that are reflective of and engaged with their communities. Since launching in 2017, the Fund has invested more than $2.4 million in dozens of local organizations that are telling vital, underreported stories and filling gaps where information otherwise isn’t being spread. Learn more at nclocalnews.org.
About the North Carolina Community Foundation
The NCCF is the single statewide community foundation serving North Carolina and has administered more than $217 million in grants since its inception in 1988. With more than $400 million in assets, NCCF sustains more than 1,200 endowments established to provide long-term support of a broad range of community needs, nonprofit organizations, institutions and scholarships. The NCCF partners with a network of affiliate foundations to provide local resource allocation and community assistance across the state. An important component of NCCF’s mission is to ensure that rural philanthropy has a voice at local, regional and national levels.