Local news has a growing need for robust infrastructure. As authoritarian movements threaten journalists and pro-democratic news organizations, better infrastructure can strengthen existing newsrooms, provide protection and security, and grow a new landscape of equitable local journalism. To support it, funders must navigate what can be a confusing array of organizations and initiatives.
We recently commissioned a report to help clarify one category of the field’s work: journalism support organizations (JSOs). JSOs are building a new infrastructure for local news by providing shared services and networks to newsmakers and newsrooms around the country. In addition to our investments in newsrooms and healthy local news ecosystems, Democracy Fund has supported a wide range of JSOs over the past decade, for example, Center for Cooperative Media, Racial Equity in Journalism Fund, NewsMatch, Maynard Institute, and many others. We consider this networked and layered funding approach vital to transforming journalism for communities.
The report’s authors, Anika Anand and Darryl Holliday, bring years of experience working in newsrooms and JSOs to this work. They conclude that to meet the increased need for infrastructure, we must pair journalism investments with a shared vision built in deep collaboration between funders, newsrooms, and community members. And we agree. Anand and Holliday also present a path forward, offering ideas including greater network weaving between efforts, increased communication and transparency, and more.
While this report is just one step of many, we hope to activate these recommendations at a critical moment in the evolution of the field, within Press Forward (a national movement investing more than $500 million to strengthen communities and local news) and other efforts. We’re grateful for all who shared reflections and feedback, and for the network weavers and collaborators who strive every day to cultivate this future of information together.