(May 6, 2026) — The Local Media Association Lab for Journalism Funding is launching a new state cohort in Oklahoma, in partnership with the Oklahoma Media Center, thanks to support from Google News Initiative.
This program will bring the lab’s proven training and fundraising impact to publishers in Oklahoma, enabling them to sustain their essential local journalism in part through philanthropy.
This new cohort will run alongside a concurrent cohort in Wyoming, which is in partnership with the Wyoming Local News Fund. These two cohorts will build on the state-based structure that the Lab for Journalism Funding has successfully implemented in Pennsylvania, Colorado, Illinois, New Mexico and California.
Since its launch in September 2020, the LMA Lab for Journalism Funding has trained more than 200 newsrooms on fundraising best practices in six national and five state cohorts. Collectively, those newsrooms have raised more than $38 million to support their journalism.
Community-based, locally controlled news organizations in Oklahoma are invited to apply to join this cohort. Applicants must be producing original, local news for audiences within their state at least weekly, and priority will be given to newsrooms with philanthropic giving programs that are less than five years old. Local news partnerships or coalitions are also encouraged to apply, particularly if they have a joint initiative that they are seeking to fund via philanthropy.
Preference will be given to media organizations that:
- Have strong local leadership with deep ties to the community.
- Are focused on high-quality local journalism.
- Have leadership-level buy-in to participate in this lab and make the time/resource commitment.
- Have a record of essential service to the community through journalism.
- Are relatively new to raising philanthropic support for local news (membership and/or grant programs of less than five years OR new staff members who could benefit from this training and cohort).
Publishers in each cohort will set fundraising goals, in consultation with their coach, that are in line with each publisher’s market size. They will also develop a list of fundraising prospects, create a pitch deck and campaign materials and seek funding for their project. Travel stipends will be provided for the selected participants to convene for an in-person program launch at Local Media Fest in Chicago in August.
Case studies and articles will be published, sharing best practices and lessons learned. The lab will culminate in a Pitch Day, where newsrooms will pitch their projects to a panel of funder-judges, and the top three winners will receive seed funding stipends.
The Lab for Journalism Funding team and its partners are excited to support local news organizations in Oklahoma through this program.
“Philanthropic support is one way to sustain local news, and earning the support of the communities we serve is essential,” said Frank Mungeam, who leads the lab as LMA chief innovation officer. “LMA is excited to partner with Oklahoma Media Center and Wyoming Local News Fund to bring the learnings and best practices of the Lab for Journalism Funding to newsrooms in Oklahoma and Wyoming to help them strengthen their case for support.”
“Along with the Wyoming Local News Fund, the Oklahoma Media Center is eager to collaborate with the LMA Lab for Journalism Funding,” said Rob Collins, executive director of the Oklahoma Media Center. “This comprehensive training program has a proven track record of diversifying revenue for newsrooms by securing grants and philanthropic funding. Thanks to Google News Initiative’s investment, the lab will provide extensive training and one-on-one coaching to sustain the vital work for Oklahoma newsrooms.”
“The Google News Initiative is proud to support the expansion of the Lab for Journalism Funding to these new states,” said Natalia Bergamaschi, news partner manager, Google. “This program has a proven track record of success, and we’re excited to help bring its model to even more local newsrooms.”
Applications will be reviewed and accepted on a rolling basis until 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on May 31, 2026.
For more information, please contact:
Nina Joss, Local Media Association: nina.joss@localmedia.org
Rob Collins, Oklahoma Media Center: rob@oklahomamediacenter.com