Watering News Deserts – Nieman Reports

Similarly, six states have or are considering grants and fellowships to support local journalism by placing more journalists in newsrooms and on beats. New Jersey, for example, passed legislation in 2018 to create the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium, a grantmaking body that distributes $1 million in state funds annually to train journalists and support access to news and information sources. California is considering a similar approach, but in a public-private partnership with Google. Both New Jersey’s model and the one proposed by California create administrative boards that distribute the funds, which places some distance between politicians who may want to influence the funding process or interfere with a news organizations’ independence. There is still concern that some models leave politicians too much power to influence local news efforts. California’s proposed program, for example, would be housed in the state’s Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development.