Local Media Association is pleased to announce the news organizations selected to participate in the California cohort of the Lab for Journalism Funding, an intensive, six-month program that brings the lab’s proven fundraising practices to independent news organizations across the state.

The 19 organizations selected for the 2025 Lab for Journalism Funding California cohort represent local newsrooms big and small, serving diverse communities across the state of California, all united in their focus on civic journalism. The California cohort of the Lab for Journalism Funding is made possible with support from Google News Initiative. The lab will help these local news organizations develop and execute comprehensive programs to secure philanthropic support for their essential local journalism that is responsive to community priorities. The lab runs from April through September 2025.

The news organizations selected are:

About the Lab for Journalism Funding

The California cohort will be led by Liz White Notarangelo, former publisher of the Record-Journal (Meriden, Connecticut) and a graduate of the LMA Lab for Journalism Funding and LMA Advanced Fundraising Lab. Newsrooms will receive one-on-one coaching from a team of coaches, including Joaquin Alvarado, Joanne Heyman, Samantha Johnston and Jennifer Preston.

Since launching in 2020, the LMA Lab for Journalism Funding has trained nearly 150 newsrooms in best practices for growing community support for essential local journalism, thanks to support from Google News Initiative. To date, alumni of the lab have raised more than $28 million to sustain local news. 

In 2025, with new GNI support, the Lab for Journalism Funding will lead state cohorts in Illinois and New Mexico as well as California. The lab will also expand fundraising support for alumni and offer another national cohort of the lab in the fall, with new funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

“The Google News Initiative has been a long-standing partner of the Lab for Journalism Funding,” said Lauren Ashcraft, news partner manager at Google. “It was exciting to see the success of the new state cohorts of the lab from last year and we’re thrilled to support an expansion of the program in these important states. We look forward to our continued partnership with LMA and its members.”

LMA has also published two industry reports, Pathways to Philanthropy and Sustaining Philanthropy for Journalism, free to newsrooms to download to help local newsrooms apply best practices from the lab to their own philanthropic efforts.

Meet the Newsrooms

Beyond Borders Gazette

“We at Beyond Borders Gazette are thrilled to be accepted into the Lab for Journalism Funding, a program that will provide us with the guidance and tools to secure funding for our journalistic endeavors. This opportunity strengthens our mission to deliver impactful, high-quality reporting while ensuring the sustainability and growth of independent journalism in our region.”

– Ellie Burgueno, publisher

California Health Report

“The California Health Report is delighted and honored to join the Lab for Journalism Funding’s California cohort. We are a small, non-profit newsroom working hard to grow our resources and impact, and we’re excited to learn best practices from some of the most talented and knowledgeable people in the journalism funding space. Thank you so much for this opportunity.”

– Claudia Boyd-Barrett, senior reporter and assistant editor

Community Alliance Newspaper

“The Community Alliance newspaper anxiously anticipates participation in the LMA lab to help us better empower ourselves to raise the funding necessary for us to continue addressing the voices and concerns of the communities that we serve.”

– Michael D. Evans, executive director

Fountain Valley Living and Huntington Beach Living Magazines

“As the owner of two community magazines in Southern California, I am extremely excited about the opportunity to network with other local media owners/professionals to share knowledge, learn new skills and provide encouragement to others in this space.”

– Scott Rogers, owner and publisher

Indigenous Network

“As journalism navigates complex geopolitical forces, we believe it is more important than ever to strengthen local reporting. We are grateful to be part of the LMA California cohort and remain committed to delivering quality journalism that honors Indigenous perspectives and empowers our communities.”

– Veronica Wood, chief operations officer

inewsource

“For 15 years, inewsource has produced journalism with impact, but we’re growing — and now more than ever need a strong organization-wide strategy for communicating our value and fundraising to support our work. We look forward to learning these skills with the cohort.”

– Jamie Self, managing editor

La Opinión

“La Opinión will celebrate 100 years of service next year, and as the top Spanish newspaper in the USA, we are devoted to serving our communities. La Opinión’s participation in the LMA Lab for Journalism Funding will help us to increase our skills and expand our perspective to innovate and find additional sources of sustainability, all in support of a century of excellence in journalism and a great future to come.”

– Jesús Del Toro, director of grants development at Impremedia, which publishes La Opinión

Lake County News

“We’re excited to work with the lab and other member publications to bring best practices for fundraising and community engagement to Lake County, with a view to learning new and successful strategies for conversing with community members to find out what coverage is critical to them. Our hope is that, from this experience, we will create avenues for fundraising that will strengthen our publication’s resources and enhance our ability to carry out the journalism that’s important to Lake County, both now and in the future.”

– Elizabeth Larson, editor and publisher

Mission Local

“Since the beginning, Mission Local has been a training grounds for young journalists, and our internship program is popular at top schools across the country — Stanford, Columbia, Berkeley and more. But too often we don’t get to hire local interns because their schools don’t offer stipends, and we don’t take unpaid interns. We’re hopeful the Local Media Association lab can help us put together the fundraising needed to kick off a local internship program to support young journalists from right here in San Francisco.”

– Joe Rivano Barros, senior editor

Monterey County Weekly (Monterey County Now)

“Monterey County Weekly is honored to be chosen as part of the California cohort of the Local Media Association’s Lab for Journalism Funding. We are looking forward to bringing the experience and knowledge of the Lab to bear in our continued efforts to gain philanthropic support for our journalism.”

– Erik Cushman, publisher

Post News Group

“In a time when the public is inundated with ‘alternate facts,’ and newspapers are understaffed and underfunded such that their role as the Fourth Estate is threatened, the opportunity with the LMA lab is the lifeline we need for ourselves and our readers. Thank you so much.”

– Wanda Ravernell, editor at The Oakland Post, which is part of Post News Group

Santa Cruz Local

“Santa Cruz Local is excited to be supported by LMA to grow our newsroom by reaching ambitious fundraising goals. We’re looking forward to being part of an all-star cohort and learning best practices for building out a comprehensive, sustainable donor engagement program.”

– Jay Leedy, community engagement manager

Street Spirit

“As a very small, independent newspaper, it has been very challenging to break into the highly-competitive world of development for nonprofit news. I am thrilled to be part of this cohort and learn the skills I need to help my publication thrive with the help of both experts and my peers.”

– Alastair Boone, director

Tahoe Daily Tribune

“This is an exciting opportunity for Tahoe Daily Tribune. Local news is now more important than ever. Having the tools to provide more news to the community without adding an extra strain to our local business owners will be beneficial to everyone.”

– Laney Griffo, editor

The Mendocino Voice (Bay City News Foundation)

“The Mendocino Voice has so much potential to grow and serve the community, but we need help. As a small newsroom, we are eager to learn from the Local Media Association and peers in our cohort so we can connect with the community, generate new revenue and reinvest in our staff.”

– Kat Rowlands, publisher of The Mendocino Voice and founder of Bay City News Foundation, which runs the news website

The San Diego Voice & Viewpoint Newspaper

“This incredible opportunity will advance our understanding and expertise in fundraising for long-term growth and sustainability, ensuring we can continue our mission to serve the Black and African American communities in San Diego County and the broader ethnic communities throughout the region. We’re eager to get started and excited for all the learning and growth ahead.”

– Latanya West, managing editor

The San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol del Valle de San Fernando

“Being selected to this cohort comes at a great time. I am looking forward to learning how to add philanthropy funding to our revenue mix and the fellowship of those in the group.”

– Martha Diaz Aszkenazy, publisher

The Trinity Journal

“I’m excited to see what avenues this opens for us. For most of our 169-year existence, we’ve relied on the two standard pillars of advertising and subscribers. That’s not a sustainable model anymore, and local media now must rely on many multiple pillars, of which philanthropy has to be one.”

– Wayne Agner, publisher

Vida Newspaper

“We at Vida Newspaper are very excited to be part of the California cohort of the Local Media Association’s Lab for Journalism Funding. This will be a great opportunity for us to learn how to present a project and proposal to get very needed funding for our news media organization to be able to continue serving our community with local news and information.”

– Manual Muñoz, publisher and director