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LOCAL JOURNALISM CENTERS

Local Journalism Centers

Grant: Local Journalism Centers
Agency: Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)
Deadline: The deadline was April 19, 2013.

Description: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is offering grants to enhance the capacity of public radio and television stations to create high quality original journalism by supporting qualified groups of three or more stations willing to form Local Journalism Centers (LJC). The purpose of the LJC Grant program is to:

  • Build local journalism capacity and quality in public media by increasing the number of reporters and editors at stations, with an emphasis on adding diversity.
  • Increase public media’s capacity to produce high quality original multimedia content distributed across multiple platforms.
  • Create models of collaboration that leverage the resources of multiple stations, resulting in larger audiences, greater public service and sustainable local journalism.
  • Make community engagement an integral part of public media’s local journalism, resulting in content that is more authentic and impactful.

LJCs are intended to become part of each station’s newsroom and not to exist as a special project outside the daily editorial operations of the station. Each LJC should have an editor and team of skilled journalists producing multimedia content on a single focused editorial topic that is of particular interest to the communities served by the stations, and provide deep and meaningful multi-platform coverage from a diversity of perspectives. Additionally, the LJC should craft a community engagement strategy that is specific to its topic and communities. More details on community engagement strategies can be found here.

All proposed projects should be conducted over a minimum of 24 months, and should serve as models that can be replicated by other groups of stations.

Fit for public broadcasting: This program is designed specifically for public broadcasting. Public television and radio stations are the only eligible applicants allowed under this program. Stations will hire a team of skilled journalists to cover diverse perspectives on various topics. To date, CPB has awarded seven grants to LJC partnerships involving three to eight public radio and television stations. Five of the original seven remain in operation today, and they continue to improve on their collaboration model. These LJCs include:

Eligibility: Qualified groups of three or more public broadcasting stations are eligible to apply.

How to apply: Applications must be submitted by email to Jeff Luchsinger by April 19, 2013; 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Applications submitted by fax or U.S. mail will not be accepted. More details on the necessary documents required for submission are found in the program notice.