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Community journalism and the future of the humanities

Valerie Popp

Journalism + Design Lab

COMMUNITY NEWS

TRANSFORMATION GRANTS

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Who we are and what we do

New Mexico Local News Fund

Journalism + Design Lab, The New School

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We all have roles to play in keeping our communities informed.

Photo: Walter Marino

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Community News Networks

How can we center community colleges as hubs for local news and equip more people to produce and share reliable information?

Quick overview of our work with CCs: # and location of partnerships to date, types of programs we’ve supported, pathways we’ve co-built, etc.

This is our overall question. To date, we’ve forged in-depth partnerships with at least 8 community colleges around the country. Many of these partnerships have centered on noncredit programs and certificates that equip people with journalism skills. Most partnerships involved collaboration with other local media organizations and community-based orgs. The goal is to equip get more people participating in their local news ecosystem in some way, offering them pathways to get involved: producing original reporting, sharing verified news with their communities, launching their own channels, etc.

It’s not solely about producing more journalists, but about getting more people to act journalistically. To think about the information they share with their friends, family and neighbors and be more active in circulating info that people can use to improve their communities and their lives. We’re also thinking about how colleges themselves can function as hubs, connection points, convening spaces and resources for a community to get and share reliable information.

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Community News Transformation Grants: Fast facts

Awards: at least $30,000 per college over a one year term, beginning in summer 2025;
Open to all NM community colleges
Proposed programs may be led by individual college faculty or staff or teams;
Grantees will participate in a cohort

Here are the basics:

Award info: we will award a total of $120,000 to colleges across the state, with awards of at least $30,000 per college; the number of grants given out will depend on the strength and diversity of the application pool.

We welcome applications from faculty and staff with experience in journalism as well as those with no formal journalism training or experience but who have an interest in helping to equip more people in the college’s community to participate in creating, sharing, and distributing news and information. We have seen successful programs led by community college workforce development staff, humanities faculty members, administrators such as deans, and more–so if you are a grants officer at a college, please share the opportunity widely and think creatively about who from your campus might lead an application.

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What kinds of projects do the grants support?

Broaden community and org participation in local info ecosystems in NM
Envision sustainable pathways for participants to apply journalistic skills

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Types of projects to consider

Noncredit or credit pathways
Community collaborations
Strengthening student media
Local community newsrooms
Entrepreneurship
OR, use your imagination!

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What to expect from the cohort experience

Learning and support in a collaborative setting
Combo of synchronous and asynchronous skill-building, activities, and check-ins
Facilitated design process
Access to tools and resources

J+D and NMLNF will build the cohort experience around the grantees projects, needs, and schedules–so the cohort experience depends in part on which colleges are selected and what their project propose. That said, here’s a rough outline of what you can expect if your project is chosen:

Co-lead the cohort through asset mapping and skill building activities that will prepare your college team to design a creative and sustainable community news initiative
Facilitate a design process to help your college build out your initiative
Support your college in launching initiative activities after the design phase is complete
Create resources and knowledge-sharing opportunities that enable cohort members to codify and communicate what they’ve learned
Clearly and proactively communicate any reporting expectations to the cohort

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Tips for preparing your application

Start early
Read the program materials carefully
Get organized
Take the time to vision and map
Reach out to J+D/NMLNF staff - we’re here for you!

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Tips for writing your application

Outline!
Keep the program goals and evaluation criteria in mind
Don’t assume
Three Cs: clear, concise, and consistent
Review and revise

Outline: whenever I’m writing a grant application, I like to drop all of the application questions into a working doc, and then I start making notes about what info each question or section is asking for; how I will get the necessary information; what help I might need from partners on and off campus to craft each answer; and any questions I might have for the funder–in this case, J+D/NMLNF.

Program goals/eval criteria: as you’re writing and refining, ask yourself: does my application speak explicitly to the program’s goals and eval criteria? For example: if your project is clear about how it will broaden community access to local news and info, but it doesn’t contain any mention of how you will create pathways for the people who participate to expand and apply their skills, then you’ve missed one of the program’s main goals.

Don’t assume: don’t assume that the people who are reading your app will be familiar with your college, its programs, the local news outlets you mention, etc.

Clear/concise/consistent: write clearly and avoid jargon when possible–this goes for both journalism and media jargon and higher ed jargon. Be concise–each question has a character limit, so be economical in how you are communicating. Think about the purpose of each sentence and how it adds to your application. Remember that all of the parts of the application need to work together to paint a picture of your project–for example, if you say that you are going to help produce a community conversations series that invites community members to campus to discuss their information needs, but your list of project costs doesn’t include event-related costs like venue, food, publicity/marketing, etc., then that’s a red flag.

Give yourself time to review and revise your application before submitting it.

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Q + A

Any questions for us?
Share them here, contact us at poppv@newschool.edu, or come to our open office hours tomorrow, 3/13 at 3:00 pm ET/1:00 pm MT

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THANK YOU!

We look forward to hearing from you and reading your applications!

VALERIE POPP

Journalism + Design

COLE GOINS

Journalism + Design

RASHAD MAHMOOD

New Mexico Local News Fund