NPR’s Collaborative Journalism Network Receives Major Grant

WASHINGTON – Eric and Wendy Schmidt, philanthropists with billions of dollars at their disposal thanks to Eric’s previous role as CEO of Google and Wendy’s investment prowess have donated NPR a significant grant aimed at further expanding cooperation between public media and journalism.

The $5.5 million grant will enable NPR and its partners to establish a regional newsroom in and around Appalachia; strengthen an existing public media partnership, the Mountain West News Bureau; pilot visual journalism at multiple stations in New England; and support ongoing newsroom development in California and the Midwest, NPR says.

The grant follows a $4.7 million gift the Schmidts made to NPR in 2020 that established two regional newsrooms within the Collaborative Journalism Network.

“This additional investment of $5.5 million over three years will enable public radio stations to reach and serve more communities with local, multi-platform public service journalism,” NPR said. “The creation of additional regional newsrooms will provide critical resources to expand outreach and investigative reporting in communities with limited access to local reporting.”

The Appalachian region will include six public media newsrooms in Kentucky and Tennessee, with the potential to open more.

The Mountain West News Bureau, an existing collaboration of 14 stations serving Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, will become a regional newsroom within the Collaborative Journalism Network.

“NPR’s collaboration with newsrooms will help strengthen coverage of issues affecting Indigenous and First Nations communities, expand talent pools and provide opportunities for professional development and training, and create a shared services model that supports small stations,” NPR said in a statement.

The grant will help a new pilot program with 10 New England News Collaborative stations expand the reach of short-form video news. The pilot will build on existing infrastructure and expertise at NPR and the stations, and will provide training and mentoring to build visual storytelling capacity and knowledge of best practices for digital platforms.