Overview
The steady and significant decline in the availability of reliable, fact-based local news across the country is connected to growing threats to democracy, increasing polarization, and the spread of disinformation.
At the same time, over a decade of investment in journalism experimentation and transformation have produced new models and solutions that are ready to scale, and a new generation of leaders prepared to reinvent and revitalize the field.
As part of the Local News Program, MacArthur will participate in the Press Forward national pooled fund at The Miami Foundation. National grantmaking guidelines will be available from Press Forward. And for the Press Forward Chicago pooled fund at the Chicago Community Trust, grantmaking guidelines will be available from Press Forward Chicago.
At this time, we are in an active search for a Local News Director and Local News Program Officer. Once we have a full team in place, we will post detailed grantmaking guidelines on this page in early 2024.
What We Fund
MacArthur’s Local News Program will support projects and organizations across these four grantmaking priorities:
- Strengthen local newsrooms that have the trust of local communities. This may include direct support of local newsrooms and trusted messengers providing news and information to under-served communities; and scaling regional and national programs that regrants funds to local newsrooms and provide valuable training and tools.
- Accelerate the enabling environment for news production and dissemination. This may include support of programs and projects that bring critical skills, services, tools, and infrastructure to improve the business operations of local newsrooms and programs that provide legal, safety, and security supports to local newsrooms.
- Close longstanding inequalities in journalism coverage and practice. This may include support of local newsrooms that center diverse audiences and/or diverse leadership and staff; programs and projects that support local newsrooms as they implement diversity, equity, and inclusion policies and practices; and programs and funds that support the professional development of diverse journalists working in local news.
- Advance public policies that expand access to local news and civic information. This may include support of organizations and projects that are researching, analyzing, and developing public policy ideas and building coalitions and public awareness of the potential role of public policy and government support of local journalism.
Please visit this page again in early 2024 for detailed grantmaking guidelines.
We are not accepting unsolicited proposals at this time. Please visit this page again in early 2024 for detailed grantmaking guidelines.