A national coalition of funders investing over $500 million to boost local journalism in the US is expanding into 17 new regions and communities. 

Mississippi, Wyoming and New Mexico are among US states joining the Press Forward initiative that brings together new donors and foundations to expand available resources for local news. 

The Press Forward project, first opened in September last year, aims to strengthen communities by reversing the dramatic decline in local journalism and news reporting that has coincided with an increasingly divided America and weakening trust in institutions.   

According to the MacArthur Foundation, a founding partner of the initiative, approximately 2,200 local newspapers have closed since 2005, resulting in 20 per cent of Americans living in so-called “news deserts”, with little to no reliable coverage of important local events. 

‘In North Carolina and nationally, more funders are connecting the dots between supporting strong local journalism and advancing their overall impact,’ said Lizzy Hazeltine, director of the North Carolina Local News Lab Fund. 

Press Forward says it is independent of political ideologies and plans to work with More Perfect, a bipartisan initiative that is advancing five interrelated democracy goals, one of which is access to trusted news and information.   

The growing coalition of local and national funders has also announced Dale R. Anglin as its director. Currently, Anglin serves as Vice President for Proactive Grantmaking at the Cleveland Foundation, the oldest community foundation in the US. She previously led efforts to invest in a regional network of nonprofit journalism initiatives. 

‘We are at a critical juncture in our democracy, with clear evidence that the lack of information is harmful to our country and is leading to a more divided America,’ Anglin said. 

 ‘Through Press Forward, we see this moment as an opportunity for reinvention, the time to accelerate investment in promising models and innovative leaders so that we can ensure that news and information are accessible to more Americans.’ 

Shafi Musaddique is news editor at Alliance magazine.