We are mobilizing a movement to support the local news our democracy deserves.

The American Journalism Project is the first venture philanthropy nonprofit focused on local news.

Our work is grounded in an understanding of the severity, urgency and scope of the local news crisis as market forces continue to fail our communities.

Through transformative investments to Civic News Organizations, we are building a new public service media that is governed by, sustained by and looks like the public it serves.

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1,400

communities in the U.S. have had a newspaper close over the last 15 years

Source: The Expanding News Desert

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What is most needed is investment in organizations’ capacity to sustain themselves, and to grow.

Elizabeth Green, American Journalism Project co-founder, and Chalkbeat Co-Founder, CEO & Editor-in-Chief Read blog

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What We Do

We are focused on growing and sustaining an independent local press by building business and technology capacity in local Civic News Organizations. Our three core functions:

Investments

Making course-altering grants to a set of enterprising civic news organizations

Intensive Support

Coaching and support from industry experts and peers

Movement Building

Catalyzing financial support for independent local news

$50M

Our initial fund will invest in a portfolio of Civic News Organizations across the U.S.

What is a Civic News Organization?

A Civic News Organization is a local news organization that has a public service mission and commitment to meeting the critical information needs of the community — in areas such as government, environment, education, social and criminal justice, or public health. It is supported by a mix of commercial media tactics and sophisticated charitable fundraising.

Get Involved

We are raising $50 million for our initial fund to support a portfolio of 25-35 Civic News Organizations across the U.S. — at various stages of development — that can serve as exemplars for a new generation of local news outlets.

Ecosystem Leaders

Critical to leading and lifting whole field

High Potential Newsrooms

Ready to evolve into media enterprises

Promising Startups

Have replicable or scalable models

We welcome support from philanthropists, family foundations, institutional funders, and corporate partners who understand the urgency of the decline in local news and the threat to our democracy.

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