North Carolina Local News Lab Fund Invests $535,000 in 31 Local News and Community Organizations During Fall 2024 Grant Cycle
The latest round of funding includes expanded support for news and community organizations in Western NC, along with a statewide network that works to ensure everyone can find, trust, and use the information they need to thrive.
October 15, 2024 - The North Carolina Local News Lab Fund today announced $535,000 in new grants to 31 local news and community organizations. The fall 2024 grant cycle, combined with grants awarded in March 2024 and annual support of the NC Local News Workshop, brings the Fund’s total investments into North Carolina’s news and information ecosystem this year to $1.16 million to 41 organizations.
On the heels of Hurricane Helene and days before early voting begins in North Carolina, the Fund announces renewed and expanded support for a wide range of North Carolina’s trusted communicators, including journalists, community organizers, and health workers. These grants provide recipient organizations with flexible funding to best meet their communities’ needs — from providing life-saving information during emergency response to helping people across the state navigate their local elections.
“As we’ve seen over the last few weeks in Western North Carolina, access to reliable information saves lives. We’re proud to support the strong, local organizations that drive understanding and share essential updates in North Carolina,” said Lizzy Hazeltine, Director of the North Carolina Local News Lab Fund. “It’s our job to ensure resources flow to these trusted communicators to serve their communities during times like these, from local hurricane relief efforts to essential election information and beyond.”
Investing in Western North Carolina
A quarter of the organizations awarded grants in this cycle are based in or have a local reporter in Western North Carolina. The immediate aftermath of Hurricane Helene made the crucial role of trusted, accurate information networks and locally relevant journalism abundantly clear. Examples of this work across the region include:
Radio coverage from Blue Ridge Public Radio (BPR), a vital lifeline when other communications are down.
Rapid development of text-only news sites, such as BPR’s low-bandwidth site and Enlace Latino NC’s Spanish reporting, that load faster for Western North Carolinians—a project led by the NC Local News Workshop.
Reporting and community updates designed to close stark language gaps, such as Spanish and K’iche’ coverage from JMPRO Community Media.
“Access to trusted, relevant, accurate information during the emergency response is imperative, but its importance extends far beyond the crisis,” said Lizzy Hazeltine. “Journalists will provide accountability during the longtail of recovery efforts, while community organizations will help rebuild and reimagine. We must continue to invest in stronger, more prepared information networks for emergency responses in the future.”
Expanded support for local journalism and community organizations in Western North Carolina was made possible by a $75,000 contribution by Democracy Fund in the days following Hurricane Helene.
In addition to distributing funding that supports news and community organizations in the region, the Fund regularly updates a resource hub with links to trusted news and information in Western North Carolina and relief efforts that individuals and organizations can support.
Vital Information Networks Across North Carolina
In this grant cycle, the Fund welcomes 12 new grant partners, which expand the geographic and community reach of the Fund’s grant partner cohort. In addition to longstanding partners that operate across the state, new partners span from westernmost communities in North Carolina’s mountains (Smoky Mountain News), to hyperlocal daily news in central North Carolina (Davidson Local), to community storytelling on the coast (Down in the County in Pamlico County).
The Fund’s grant partners are closing information gaps across North Carolina’s communities beyond geography. The Fund supports organizations and newsrooms that specifically serve NC’s rural areas, youth, communities of color, Indigenous peoples, Hispanic/Latino communities, LGBTQ+ communities, people whose primary language is not English, communities disconnected by the digital divide or other information barriers, and people living in poverty.
The Fund also renewed its support of the NC Local News Workshop at Elon University this year for $260,000. The Workshop’s statewide programming connects news and information organizations to one another, building their capacity to listen to their communities, practice equity, and sustain their work.
About the Fund’s Grantmaking
The Fund’s grants are selected by a group of national and state experts with deep ties to North Carolina communities, expertise in evolving models of journalism and information-sharing strategies, and a shared vision for accessible, inclusive news and information. Learn more about the Fund’s selection committee here.
The Fund’s grantmaking is supported by its funding partners. This grant cycle, Cone Health Foundation joins the Fund’s growing coalition of funders. Based in Greensboro, Cone Health Foundation partners with community organizations to "eliminate health inequities by centering historically marginalized communities in their grantmaking, strategic partnerships, and advocacy.”
Fall 2024 Grant Recipients
AMEXCAN, $10,000
Blue Ridge Public Radio, $25,000
Border Belt Independent, $10,000
Casa Azul de Wilson, $20,000
Charlotte Journalism Collaborative, $15,000
Code the Dream, $10,000
Colaborativa La Milpa, $25,000
Davidson Local, $20,000
Down in the County, $20,000
El Pueblo, $15,000
Emancipate NC, $10,000
Enlace Latino NC, $25,000
Fund for Investigative Reporting/Mountain Xpress, $20,000
Hola Carolina, $15,000
JMPRO Community Media, $25,000
LILA Latinx LGBTQI Initiative Inc., $20,000
NC FIELD, $15,000
NC Housing Coalition, $20,000
North Carolina Health News, $20,000
Orange County Justice United, $20,000
Qnotes Carolinas, $10,000
Refugee Community Partnership, $10,000
Salud Sin Fronteras, $15,000
Scalawag, $15,000
Smoky Mountain News, $20,000
Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF), $20,000
Triad City Beat, $10,000
WFAE - University Radio Foundation, Inc., $20,000
WNC Health Network, $15,000
WNCU at NCCU, $15,000
You Can Vote, $25,000
For more information about the Fund, visit www.nclocalnews.org.
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. Learn more at nclocalnews.org.