Pulitzer Center Launches $5 Million Local News Initiative

The Pulitzer Center is pleased to announce "Bringing Stories Home," a major new initiative that brings our innovative approach to reporting and educational outreach to regional news outlets across the United States.

Made possible through a $5 million endowment gift from the Facebook Journalism Project, "Bringing Stories Home" will fund at least 12 local in-depth, multimedia reporting projects a year, plus related community outreach and education programs. This endowment gift will also unlock an additional $5 million endowment gift from Emily Rauh Pulitzer, chair of the Pulitzer Center.

"This support from the Facebook Journalism Project — and the matching donation from Emily Rauh Pulitzer, our board chair — triples the size of our endowment," said Jon Sawyer, the Pulitzer Center's founder and executive director. "We are grateful for Facebook's commitment to helping us meet the challenges of today's journalism, especially in smaller cities where the survival of news outlets depends on new models of reporting and community engagement. We applaud Facebook's commitment to the editorial independence that is absolutely essential to our success."

The Facebook Journalism Project gift is part of a broader effort by the company to support local and regional news outlets. Over the next three years, Facebook has pledged to invest $300 million in news programs, partnerships, and content. Other grant recipients announced today include Report for America, Knight-Lenfest Institute Local News Transformation Fund, Local Media Association (LMA) & Local Media Consortium (LMC), American Journalism Project, and the Community News Project.

"Last year, we worked to better understand what kind of news people want to see on Facebook. We've also asked our partners in the news industry how we can better work with them to make a real impact," said Campbell Brown, Facebook vice president of global news partnerships in a statement. "We heard one consistent answer: People want more local news, and local newsrooms are looking for more support. That's why today we're announcing an expanded effort around local news in the years ahead."

News outlets eligible for participation in "Bringing Stories Home" include all those serving cities in which population ranks 21st or lower. The Pulitzer Center is already actively working with partner outlets in many such cities, from Louisville to Pittsburgh to St. Louis, and welcomes applications from all eligible outlets. The restricted-endowment gift from the Facebook Journalism Project guarantees that this will be a permanent feature of our work in the years ahead.

Local and regional newsrooms interested in participating in "Bringing Stories Home" should direct inquiries to Jeff Barrus at [email protected]. For more information about the Facebook Journalism Project's endowment gift to the Pulitzer Center and "Bringing Stories Home," please see this announcement from the Facebook Journalism Project.

About the Pulitzer Center

The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting is an innovative award-winning non-profit journalism organization dedicated to supporting in-depth engagement with under-reported global issues. We sponsor quality international reporting across all media platforms and a unique program of education and outreach to communities, schools, and universities. Visit the Pulitzer Center online at pulitzercenter.org.

About the Facebook Journalism Project

Created in January 2017, the Facebook Journalism Project exists to establish stronger ties between Facebook and the news industry. FJP works to ensure quality journalism thrives by unlocking and adding value through new products, partnerships with the news industry and specific FJP programs. FJP works in three ways: collaborative development of new products; providing tools and trainings for journalists; and providing tools and trainings for people.