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billboard image $20 Million in Support of Local News
Staff members conduct an interview at the at El Tecolote newsroom. The publication produces a free bilingual, biweekly newspaper for readers in the San Francisco Bay Area. Credit: El Tecolote

Grants provide newsrooms and journalism infrastructure support as part of our commitment to revitalize local news.

The MacArthur Foundation today announced $20 million to support newsrooms and provide journalism infrastructure as part of its commitment to revitalize local news.

MacArthur launched the Local News Program last year with a commitment of at least $150 million in new grantmaking to local news over five years, and the potential of $25 million in additional impact investments. This latest round of grants brings the total committed to date to more than $90 million.

The Local News Program provides pooled and aligned grantmaking to support Press Forward, a national initiative led by MacArthur to strengthen communities and democracy by supporting local news and information. This round of grants includes an additional $1 million to the pooled fund after an initial contribution of $32.5 million last year. An additional $3.3 million will go to the Chicago Community Trust to support local news in MacArthur’s headquarters city through Press Forward Chicago, one of 31 Press Forward Local Chapters launched over the past year. 

“Our grantmaking supports a range of organizations working to strengthen nascent and emerging local news ecosystems and their leaders, who innovate in these spaces, with tools, resources, and funding. This includes a cohort of legacy newsrooms pioneering new paths,” said Silvia Rivera, MacArthur’s Director of Local News. “These investments are part of a collective effort to ensure that local communities have access to reliable and trustworthy information.”

This round of grants, which will provide general operations and flexible support for infrastructure and shared services, along with direct support for local newsrooms, is going to:

Newsrooms

  • Amsterdam News Educational Foundation will receive $350,000 to support the charitable and educational initiatives of the New York Amsterdam News, one of the oldest and most influential Black newspapers in the country.
  • El Tecolote, a project of Acción Latina, will receive $350,000 to support its free bilingual, biweekly news for readers in the San Francisco Bay Area.
  • The Oklahoma Eagle will receive $350,000 to support its charitable operations as part of the Tulsa Local News Initiative (currently under fiscal sponsorship of the American Journalism Project), helping to ensure the sustainability of one of the nation’s oldest legacy Black newspapers.
  • Reader Institute for Community Journalism will receive $350,000 to support the operations of the Chicago Reader and its political and cultural coverage of the Chicago area.
  • Resolve Philadelphia will receive $350,000 to undergo organizational changes and retain its community-level work in local neighborhoods.
  • Signal Ohio will receive $250,000 to support local journalism in service of Ohio communities using its deep community engagement model.

Journalism Service Organizations

  • The Listening Post Collective, a project of Internews, will receive $3 million for its work with individuals and organizations that research local information ecosystems, and civic media projects that provide essential tools, resources, and microgrants.
  • Local Independent Online News Publishers will receive $4 million to provide customized case management support for entrepreneurs and offer direct funding to promising newsrooms to implement their sustainability strategies.
  • Media Forward Fund will receive $330,000 to support a new Press Forward-inspired pooled fund for independent journalism in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
  • National Trust for Local News will receive $500,000 to continue building its infrastructure and drive growth and sustainability with its newspapers in Colorado, Maine, and Georgia.
  • Rural News Fund, a project of Invest Appalachia, Inc., will receive $755,000 to strengthen the foundation for revitalizing the media landscape in Appalachia and ensuring that local communities have access to trustworthy news and information.
  • Tiny News Collective will receive $2.275 million to establish a comprehensive support system for new founders, including leadership development, legal aid, back-office services, and microgrant opportunities.
  • URL Collective will receive $1.5 million to provide financial and business infrastructure support to local news organizations serving underrepresented communities.

Press Forward Local Chapters

Research

  • News Is Out, a queer media collaborative and project of The Local Media Foundation, will receive $250,000 to launch a research project to document the status of LGBTQ+ media in the U.S.
  • Word in Black Racial Equity Fund, a project of The Local Media Foundation, will receive $500,000 to support the dissemination of reports to educate the public on data collection, newsroom collaboration, and community engagement.

University Centers