South Florida Foundations combine to save the media needs of local journalism and the transition region

A group of private foundations in Südflorida combines to save local journalism and asks the residents of the region to tell them what kind of information they need from local media.

The foundations announced the creation of Press Forward in Südflorida on Monday: “A new initiative to ensure that the residents have the information they need to make decisions about their lives – no matter where they live or speak at home.”

With a first grant of 3 million US dollars by John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Press Florida South Florida said that she would use the funds to collect money for local news initiatives. It is one of almost three dozen local chapters across the country where local leaders collect donations and collect support to strengthen their community through local news.

“We believe that local messages encourage our community, ask challengers, to delete deeper in critical topics and to have our solutions,” said Rebecca Fishman Lipsey, President and CEO of the Miami Foundation.

“We are a region of newcomers – as many of us are born in another city, another country or another culture. Local messages can help us combine differences, build a better future and be at home here in Südflorida, ”she added.

Others who work with the Miami Foundation are the Broward Community Foundation, the Coral Gables Community Foundation and the most important Biscayne Community Foundation.

“Local news promotes the understanding, builds up a sense of community and authorize the residents to take measures for the community that we love,” said the Community Foundation of the President/CEO of Broward, Jennifer O'flanny Anderson. “Since our local news agencies suffer from the national trend of reduced personnel and limited resources, the support for Press Forward will Südflorida strengthen access to the high -quality local news that are essential for flourishing communities. “

According to the most recent report by the Medill Local News Initiative at Northwestern University, more than 3,200 print newspapers have disappeared since 2005. In the past year alone, 130 newspapers made their doors.

The organizers of Press Forward in South Florida said that they will spend the next few months “evaluating the existing media ecosystem as well as the news and information needs of the Südfloridians”.

The foundations work with the American Journalism Project and the Jorge M. Perez Metropolitan Center at Florida International University and the School of Journalism and Media to get answers from a survey of under 1,000 inhabitants in the Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe districts.

The survey can be found at https://bit.ly/localnewsurvey.

The foundations said they expect them to distribute grants later this year.

“Press Forward is not just about providing local newsrooms, but about promoting a deep and permanent commitment of the community in South Florida to support local journalism,” said Jim Brady, Vice President of Journalism at Knight Foundation. “We hope that Press Forward in Südflorida will lay the foundation for a stronger investment in the future of news and information in the region.”