Press Forward South Florida has awarded $760,000 to more than a dozen newsrooms and media partnerships across Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties, including The Miami Times.
The first round of grants was announced Tuesday at a reception at Miami Dade College’s Freedom Tower. The funding is intended to help local news organizations strengthen business operations, collaborate on journalism and expand residents’ access to local information, according to Press Forward South Florida.
The grants range from digital startups and nonprofit news organizations to legacy outlets, public media and the region’s oldest Black-owned newspaper.
“Local news boosts civic engagement, it decreases polarization and is a powerful antidote to misinformation. And in times of crisis, it is a community lifeline,” said Rebecca Fishman Lipsey, president and CEO of The Miami Foundation, at Tuesday’s event. “We need local news to not just survive but to thrive.”
Press Forward South Florida is supported by the Community Foundation of Broward, Coral Gables Community Foundation, Key Biscayne Community Foundation, Ocean Reef Community Foundation and The Miami Foundation. The initiative also receives support from Knight Foundation, the national Press Forward initiative and other donor partners, according to a press release.
The coalition’s grants are based on findings from its report, The State of South Florida Local News: Community Needs and Opportunities. The report found that the region’s local news ecosystem is vibrant but fragmented and increasingly strained by industry pressures.
The research also found that access to trusted and relevant information can vary depending on the language residents speak, where they live and their access to digital resources, according to the release.
Six Newsroom Collaboration grants were announced.
WLRN, South Florida’s NPR affiliate, received $100,000 to create a central audio production hub for a collaborative journalism network that includes the Key Biscayne Independent, Florida Trib, UM Community News, Caplin News–FIU, The Miami Times, Edible South Florida and other partners.
Florida International University’s Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media also received $100,000 to create the Caplin Initiative for Civic Journalism, a university-based support network for local newsrooms. Its partners will include The Biscayne Times, el Toque, Coconut Grove Spotlight, The Miami Times and other news organizations.
Hy-Lo News and The Miami Times received $75,000 to collaborate on coverage of the voices and issues shaping Overtown, Liberty City, Miami Gardens and Opa-locka.
The Florida Trib received $75,000 to expand coverage of the Florida Legislature’s impact on South Florida communities through data tools, training and collaboration with Coconut Grove Spotlight, WLRN Public Media and other local outlets.
The Sun Sentinel and nonprofit Florida Bulldog received $75,000 for collaborative investigative projects examining the stability and structure of Broward’s public health systems.
BOMA, the Black Owned Media Alliance, received $75,000 for strategic planning and staffing to jointly develop, distribute and amplify news across South Florida. BOMA is a Miami-based consortium of more than a dozen media outlets.
Thirteen news organizations, including The Miami Times, were also selected for Newsroom Strength grants. The program provides access to LION Publishers sustainability audits, a year of monthly LION coaching sessions and a $20,000 stipend to implement audit recommendations.
The other Newsroom Strength grantees are Browardist, Coconut Grove Spotlight, Edible South Florida, el Toque News, Hy-Lo News, Impact Edition, Islander News, Key Biscayne Independent, Key West Newswire, Miami New Times, OutSFL and WLRN Public Media.
Press Forward South Florida said it will continue tracking the impact of the investments as part of its broader effort to strengthen the local news ecosystem across the three counties.
The initiative is a collaboration among five community foundations and is part of the national Press Forward movement, which has 49 chapters across the country.