• by Ray Schultz , Yesterday

Press Forward is investing $22.7 million in 22 local news infrastructure projects, including:

• A crisis reporting playbook built from the Hurricane Helene response in North Carolina. This could help in covering events like the flooding in Texas. 
• Trauma-informed safety training and mental health services for front-line reporters.
• Funding of the Internet Archive to secure the legacy of local reporting.

The funding was generated through Press Forward’s Open Call on Infrastructure. More than 550 applications were received. 

The groups receiving these grants are dealing with these challenges:

• Making it easier for newsrooms to prepare for crises
• Working to protect a free and independent press.
• Making sure journalists are safe and healthy. 
• Helping newsrooms reach financial sustainability.
• Lifting up underserved communities.
• Using AI for good. 
• Supporting collaboration to make newsrooms stronger together. 

Today’s local newsrooms are much smaller than 25 years ago – doing more with less amid rapid technological change and an always-on news cycle,” Dale R. Anglin and Christina Shih write. “As the sector continues to evolve, local newsrooms need shared resources and tools to strengthen operations, keep journalists healthy and safe, and develop new revenue streams.”

The recipients include:

BOMESI--$750,000

City Bureau--$1.25 million

Global Center for Journalism and Trauma--$1.25 million 

Immigrant News Coalition--$1.5 million

Indigenous Journalists Association—$500,000

High Plains Public Radio--$750,000 

International Women's Media Foundation—$1.5 million

Internet Archive—$1 million 

Journalism + Design Lab at The New School—$1.5 million

Latino Media Consortium—$750,000 

LION Publishers—$1 million  

Meedan—$1 million 

MuckRock Foundation—$1.25 million

NCRC Community Development Fund, Inc.—$1.25 million

OpenNews—$1.2 million

Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press—$1.25 million

Rocky Mountain Community Radio—$1 million

Spotlight PA—$500,000 

Start.coop—$1.5 million 

Type Investigations—$1 million 

Vita Activa--$500,000

Voices Internship of Idaho—$500,000