Overview
The Local News Program seeks to catalyze proven innovations and interventions that center local news as a force for community cohesion, civic participation, and government accountability.
To achieve its goal, the program will deploy four primary approaches that will engage MacArthur’s full suite of philanthropic tools: grantmaking and impact investments; convenings, research sharing, and communications; engagement in discussions around the public policies that support or deter local journalism; and continued leadership for philanthropic support of local news.
We aim to identify and support local ecosystems with replicable components that create virtuous cycles of sustainability, trust, and civic engagement.
What We Fund
Local News will prioritize newsrooms, trusted messengers, funding intermediaries, and journalism support organizations (JSOs) that serve communities with high numbers of news deserts, low civic health scores, and high populations of individuals from historically underserved communities, particularly in geographies like the American South, Borderland communities (along the U.S.-Mexico border), Appalachia, and rural communities across the U.S. In the case of the Chicago area, MacArthur has a longstanding commitment to supporting efforts in our hometown.
By the end of 2028, Local News aims to have fostered at least three examples of local news ecosystems with these characteristics:
- Sustainable funding, both philanthropic and public
- Innovative delivery of content and engagement with audiences to serve specific local communities
- A strong backbone organization and/or strong connections with JSOs to increase capacity and reduce costs
Our four investment priorities include:
Equity
Ensure people in historically underserved communities benefit from accurate and trusted news that reflects their lived experience. This may include direct support of local newsrooms, newsroom collaborations, and trusted messengers providing news and information to historically underserved communities; support for talent pipelines; and support for the development of multilingual content.
Engagement
Strengthen the ties between local media organizations and their communities. This may include support of newsrooms, trusted messengers, training programs, and resources that experiment with diverse content programs and distribution channels; support for efforts to inoculate communities from mis- and disinformation; and support for collaborations with universities and youth media organizations.
Infrastructure
Strengthen nascent and emerging local news ecosystems by providing support for essential tools, training, capacity, and services, as well as direct financial support. This may include support for collaborative networks among JSOs, local backbone organizations, funders, associations, universities, and newsrooms; support for innovations that improve efficiencies and promote economies of scale; and support for capacity building programs that strengthen operational resilience.
Visibility
Create the enabling environment for news and information by supporting networks, policy, and public understanding of the sector. This may include support of coalitions, organizations, university centers, and institutes that help to raise awareness among local, state, and national decision makers about the critical role of local news; and supporting research and advocacy for initiatives that establish and sustain local news as a public good.
We are not accepting unsolicited proposals at this time. However, contact us to share new ideas and perspectives.