After taking off with great success in 2022, the IE Journalism Innovation Hub+Fund at the Inland Empire Community Foundation is prepared to expand its reach.
“We’ve given out nearly $400,000 for local journalism this year (as well as) $250,000 a year and a half ago, and we’re still growing,” said Armando Carmona, who oversees the fund.
On the creative horizon lie several endeavors designed to strengthen local news reporting and even proper access to it.
“We’ve been working with news outlets owned by people who live in the Inland Empire, helping them develop revenue strategies and sustainability and asking, ‘How do you build a news shop, an immediate space that is sustainable long-term?'” he said. “‘Something that is not just dependent on one source of revenue but really is more of an ecosystem in and of itself.'”
Noting that U.S. media “has always been a business,” he says boosting measures for journalistic sustainability is key for the future.
“We also want to innovate and engage the digital world and the social media world,” he said. “To that end, we’re building a new creative program that will launch in the next few months where we’ll train and work with people across the region, helping them become news creators.”
Citing today’s advance of social media influencers, Carmona says: “We need people who are serious and focused on news and information because we want to make sure people have access to the best possible information so that they can make better decisions in their community.”
These measures are a unique pivot as the fund moves into the latter part of this year and into 2027. But all along, the mission has been to support local and regional journalism and media and to build a vital pipeline of talent for the region. Even when things looked bleak.
Sprung from the pandemic, which shuttered about 85 local newsrooms in the country and found many that remained in operation cutting staff, salaries and work hours, the fund rose at a precarious time for journalism. According to “news desert” authority and researcher Penny Abernathy, about 1,800 newspapers have closed around the country since 2004.
Add to that the rampant rise in disinformation, suddenly, there was a greater need to cultivate reliable sources of news based on fact and integrity.
“Now, we’re living in a moment where our communities are interconnected by almost every single industry,” she said. “Folks are connected through digital, transportation and other industries. We have access to a tremendous number of tools and information.”
A big problem, she’s quick to note, is that people don’t always know what’s real or what’s verified. To that end, the fund’s DNA is designed to invest in journalists and community journalists as well as local publishers and news outlets that are committed to “speaking the truth, highlighting the truth and pointing to what’s really happening.”
Previous fund grantees include Community Forward Redlands News, Black Voice News, Inland Valley News, El Informador Del Valle, The Raincross Gazette, The Frontline Observer, KVCR Public Media, IE Community News, OTWay Media, freelance journalist Melissa Daniels, 1LoveIE and I.E. in Friends.
Moving forward, Carmona stresses that the organizers want to work with seasoned as well as young journalists and other creators to develop a unique and sustainable model.
“We have four million+ people here, one of the largest regions in California and in the country,” he said. “The Inland Empire is larger than 26 states. We have a vibrant ecosystem, some great outlets and yes, great journalists. But we have less journalists per resident than in most parts of the country. We want to change that.
“We’ll always ask, ‘How do you creatively tell the news?'” he said. “Not to distract — we don’t want to just put up shiny objects — but to have serious, good information. People are hungry for that in the Inland Empire.”
Learn more at iegives.org/funds/journalism-innovation-hub-fund or by emailing armando@iejournalism.fund.
The Inland Empire Community Foundation works to strengthen Inland Southern California through philanthropy. The IE Journalism Innovation Hub+Fund is an IECF Signature Fund, established by community members to support the causes they care about. Learn more about starting your own fund: visit iegives.org or contact the IECF Charitable Giving Team at giving@iegives.org.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: It’s journalism 2.0, thanks to growing innovative fund
Reporting by Greg Archer, Inland Empire Community Foundation / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Greg Archer, Inland Empire Community Foundation | USA TODAY Network
