The Lenfest Institute for Journalism on Tuesday announced its inaugural Philadelphia Local News Sustainability Initiative grantees.
In all, $2 million over two years will be invested in 17 news organizations to help achieve long-term sustainability.
The grant program will provide core operating support and capacity-building funding to nonprofit and for-profit local news organizations serving the Philadelphia region.
Newspaper Media Group – which publishes the Northeast Times, Lower Bucks Times, Star and South Philly Review – will receive $100,000 for investment in digital innovation, increased language translation services to appeal to diverse audiences and the testing of new reader revenue strategies.
The Philadelphia Local News Sustainability Initiative supports established Philadelphia-area news organizations with approximate annual revenue between $500,000 and $5 million. The grantees were selected from a pool who responded to an open call for applications.
Each grant is intended to help address the specific sustainability needs of a news organization serving a key Philadelphia community. Funding focuses on notable sustainability drivers such as new revenue strategies, reaching new audiences and the digital transformation of legacy news organizations.
The other inaugural grantees are African Cultural Alliance of North America; Billy Penn (WHYY); Chestnut Hill Local; Civic Capital Consulting / Generocity; FunTimes Magazine; Kensington Voice; Love Now Media; Nueva Esperanza; Philadelphia Gay News; PhillyCAM; Schneps Media – Metro Philadelphia; Technically Media; The Philadelphia Citizen; The Philadelphia Tribune; Trace Media Inc.; and WURD Radio.
Each Philadelphia Local News Sustainability Initiative grantee will be invited to participate in quarterly meetings with other grantees designed to allow for the exchange of learnings, successes and challenges. The Lenfest Institute will use these meetings as an opportunity to share expertise with Initiative grantees from its local and national partners and highlight lessons learned from this group with the broader community.
The Philadelphia Local News Sustainability Initiative is The Lenfest Institute’s latest investment in local news organizations in Philadelphia. The Institute’s work supports sustainable solutions for the next era of local journalism. Its goal is to help build a more transparent, connected and equitable Philadelphia by linking residents to their neighbors, to news organizations and to information resources to help them flourish. ••
