Eagle-eyed readers of The Reporting Project have noticed that Licking County’s nonprofit news organization now has a “world, nation & state” section featuring stories by Associated Press reporters across the globe.
How is a local nonprofit able to do that, you might wonder?
The Reporting Project was selected by The Associated Press to be part of a year-long, grant-funded pilot project to provide AP stories free to readers of 50 nonprofit news sites across the United States.
“We’re thrilled to be able to provide high-quality journalism from around the world to our readers in Licking County,” said Julia Lerner, managing editor of The Reporting Project. “Our top priority will always be local coverage of people, places, events and issues in Licking County, and now, because of generous grant funding, we are able to provide a one-stop shop for local, state, national and international news. And, like everything on our site, it’s free to our readers.”
The Reporting Project was part of a limited version of this program last fall, when grant funding allowed the AP to provide free election coverage to select nonprofit news organizations.
The new program is the first for the AP Fund for Journalism, the charitable organization created by The Associated Press in 2024 to support public service journalism and make it accessible to state and local news organizations in the U.S.
“Fact-based, independent journalism is the backbone of engaged communities and informed civic discourse,” said APFJ CEO Rachel White. “Local newsrooms are on the frontlines telling the stories that matter most to their audiences, yet often they lack the resources to do so effectively.
“This pilot program is a critical first step in our mission to close that gap, ensuring that state and local newsrooms have the tools they need to keep the public informed on stories and issues that wouldn’t otherwise receive coverage,” White said.
APFJ’s ambition, according to its website, is to underpin and support the U.S. news ecosystem by ensuring news services and widespread access to reliable, nonpartisan and fact-based news and information in underserved issue areas, including but not limited to state and local news. APFJ also supports journalism in reporting topical areas, like health, democracy, education and climate.
Through the APFJ pilot program, which is supported by the Google News Initiative and the Knight Foundation, participating newsrooms are receiving AP text, video and photo content and access to editorial tools and training to further support their newsgathering work.
Participating newsrooms include: Arizona Luminaria; Bridge Michigan; Broadband Breakfast; Brown Impact Media Group (Flint Beat and Black Like Us), Bucks County Beacon; Cityside Journalism Initiative (Berkeleyside, Richmondside, The Oaklandside); Conecta Arizona; Enlace Latino NC; Eye on Dunn County; Honolulu Civil Beat; InvestigateWest; Jacksonville Today; Local News Now (ARLnow.com, ALXnow.com, FFXnow.com athend PoPville.com); Local News Matters (The Mendocino Voice and Bay City News); MinnPost; Mirror Indy; Mississippi Free Press; Mississippi Today; Mongabay; Mountain State Spotlight; Now Habersham; Outlier Media; Planet Detroit; PublicSource; Racine County Eye; Sahan Journal; San José Spotlight; South Dakota News Watch; Spotlight Delaware; Spotlight PA; StateCollege.com; The Chronicle (Duke University); The Daily Catch; The Connecticut Mirror, The Daily Yonder; The Haitian Times; The Highlands Current; The Land; The Maine Monitor; The Nevada Independent; The Reporting Project; VernonReporter; VTDigger.
The Associated Press notes on its website that it “is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. More than half the world’s population sees AP journalism every day.”