Funding will support eight organizations that are working to address the unique challenges local news and information environments face along the U.S.-Mexico border.
MacArthur today announced more than $6 million in new funding to eight organizations that are working to address the unique challenges local news and information environments face along the U.S.-Mexico border.
This latest round of funding underscores our commitment to strengthening local news through investments that promote equity, engagement, infrastructure, and visibility. This is our initial funding for the region, with plans for future support.
The borderlands—defined as an area spanning 23 counties in Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas with a population of more than 11 million people—has historically dealt with inconsistent news coverage and gaps in meeting community information needs. This is compounded further by an uneven economic landscape, including high poverty rates, scarcity of advertising dollars, and the challenges of covering bilingual communities.
“Small newsrooms in this region struggle with limited resources while confronting exceptional challenges...”
“Small newsrooms in this region struggle with limited resources while confronting exceptional challenges, including safety concerns, trauma, and difficulties accessing information from governments on both sides of the border,” said Silvia Rivera, Director of Local News. “This makes the role of local newsrooms even more critical, as they bear the overarching responsibility of combating misinformation and maintaining community cohesion.”
Our grants will support:
- The Border Chronicle will receive $350,000, granted to Homelands Productions, to support its original on-the-ground reporting, with context and analysis, on issues important to borderland communities.
- Community Foundation for Southern Arizona will receive $750,000 to support Press Forward Southern Arizona, the first chapter in the state, and its work to fill critical gaps in local news and information in the region.
- Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism CUNY Foundation, Inc. will receive $750,000 to provide programs and journalism training to community news outlets throughout the United States, including Spanish-language media and outlets serving the borderlands.
- El Paso Community Foundation will receive $2.2 million to help establish a time-bound donor advised fund to strengthen local journalism throughout the borderlands.
- El Paso Matters Inc. will receive $750,000 in general support for its work producing in-depth and investigative reporting about El Paso, Texas, and the Paso del Norte region where Texas, New Mexico, and Chihuahua, Mexico, meet.
- Puente News Collaborative will receive $450,000 in general support for its work supporting high-quality bilingual journalism along the U.S.-Mexico border through reporting initiatives, specialized trainings, and cross-border community engagement strategies for underserved populations.
- San Antonio Area Foundation will receive $750,000 to support the first Press Forward chapter in Texas and its work to develop a more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive local news and information environment in South Central Texas and one that collaborates with partners in the borderlands.
- Wayne State University, Law School will receive $350,000 to support further development of VERDAD: Verifying and Exposing Disinformation and Discourse, a free app used by journalists that helps detect and track coordinated mis- and disinformation on Spanish-language radio stations in several states.
