(August 21, 2024) — Local Media Association is pleased to announce the 17 news organizations selected to participate in the 2024 cohort of the LMA Lab for Journalism Funding. The lab will help these local news organizations develop and execute strategies to fund essential local journalism via philanthropy. The six-month intensive lab runs from August through January 2025.
The lab, a program of Local Media Foundation, is operated by LMA with continued support from the Google News Initiative. Since its launch in September 2020, the lab has trained and coached more than 100 publishers, helping them raise more than $25 million to fund community service journalism. LMA has published a 42-page report, Pathways to Philanthropy, and a follow-up report, Sustaining Philanthropy for Journalism, to share lessons learned and best practices with the news industry. This is the third cohort of the lab this year, after LMA launched two state cohorts in Colorado and Pennsylvania, with support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
“Each of these newsrooms has a commitment to community service,” said Frank Mungeam, chief innovation officer at LMA. “We are excited to help them develop philanthropy as one of the ways to sustain their essential local journalism.”
“The Google News Initiative has been a long-standing partner of the Lab for Journalism Funding,” said Tiffany Proscia, news partner manager, Google News Partnerships. “Through this partnership, the LMA has consistently shown its dedication to promoting the sustainability of the news ecosystem. Since its launch in 2020, this program has achieved notable success. We look forward to our continued partnership with LMA and its members.”
The 17 newsrooms accepted into the 2024 cohort include a diverse set of organizations in small and large markets, across varied media platforms, with a strong representation of family-owned outlets and publishers who focus on traditionally underserved audiences. These news outlets share a commitment to civic journalism.
2024 Cohort, LMA Lab for Journalism Funding:
Anchorage Daily News
Baltimore Times
Chicago Reader
Daily Gazette
Dayton Daily News
El Timpano
Hagadone Media Group
Leader Publications
LINK nky
Lookout Local
Louisiana Illuminator
Minn. Spokesman-Recorder
Montana Free Press
Washington Blade
Watermark Publishing
Wisconsin Watch
WVIA
Here is what some of these local news leaders had to say:
“I’m excited to join the Local Media Association Journalism Funding Lab to learn how to build a fundraising strategy that will boost foundation support from San Francisco Bay Area funders who care about equitable housing reforms for low-income Latino immigrants. I’m particularly eager to learn how to effectively pitch El Tímpano as not just a media organization, but as a vital platform for community engagement and organizing.”
– Lanita Pace-Hinton, Director of Development & Communications, El Timpano
“We are thrilled to join Local Media Association’s Lab for Journalism Funding. Nonprofit journalism has historically relied on national foundations. This lab will help Wisconsin Watch continue building our case for local support and impact. ”
– Anna January, Director of Philanthropy, Wisconsin Watch
“In partnership with the Lab for Journalism Funding, the Reader Institute for Community Journalism seeks to expand its investigative news team through robust fundraising, bolstering our ability to deliver the impactful and community-focused journalism that has long characterized the Reader’s groundbreaking work.”
– Joey Mandeville, Grants Manager, Chicago Reader
“It will be very exciting to learn to build new muscle around philanthropy funding. Alaska has many areas that we could help cover, and finding ways to support those will be exciting. We are most excited to learn from the experts and others who have succeeded with this process and find ways to make it work here.”
– Andy Pennington, Publisher, Anchorage Daily News
“We are honored to have been selected to participate in the LMA Lab for Journalism Funding. Our top priority is to gain valuable insights and a roadmap on how to successfully pursue journalism funding in our effort to serve our audience for the long term.”
– Suzanne Klopfenstein, Publisher, Dayton Daily News
“This training will help further our mission as a nonprofit news organization to serve underrepresented and marginalized communities in Louisiana. The knowledge and connections gained through the LMA workshop will help ensure that we continue to produce journalism with a local impact, with resources to focus on topics of critical importance to our readers.”
– Greg LaRose, Editor in Chief, The Louisiana Illuminator
Newsrooms will receive one-on-one coaching from our team of coaches, including Joaquin Alvarado, Joanne Heyman, Sam Johnston and Jennifer Preston. Frank Mungeam will once again lead the lab. LMA will publish case studies on publisher lessons and successes from the lab that can be applied across the news industry.