85 LIONs to receive funding from Press Forward’s first Open Call

It’s official: Press Forward’s Open Call has released its first round of recipients, the majority receiving $100,000 each over two years, and the number of funded organizations is twice the planned size. Overall, 205 newsrooms will receive more than $20M, and among them are 85 LION members.

The full list of LION members who received funding follows:

• 285 South | Decatur, GA
• 2PuntosPlatform | Philadelphia, PA
• 9 Millones | San Juan, PR
• Anchor Media, LLC | Hingham, MA
• Arizona Luminaria | Tucson, AZ
• Athens County Independent | Athens, OH
• Austin Monitor | Austin, TX
• Austin Vida | Austin, TX
• Baltimore Beat | Baltimore, MD
• BenitoLink | Hollister, CA
• Black Belt News Network | Selma, AL
• BoiseDev | Boise, ID
• Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism | Somerville, MA
• California Health Report | Los Angeles, CA
• Canopy Atlanta | Atlanta, GA
• Carolina Public Press | Durham, NC
• Charlottesville Tomorrow | Charlottesville, VA
• CivicLex | Lexington, KY
• Conecta Arizona | Phoenix, AZ
• Dallas Free Press | Dallas, TX
• Dallas Voice | Dallas, TX
• Deceleration | San Antonio, TX
• Door County Knock | Egg Harbor, WI
• Down in the County | Oriental, NC
• ecoRI News | Providence, RI
• El Informador Newspaper | Mount Pleasant, SC
• Epicenter-NYC | Jackson Heights, NY
• Ethiopique | Washington, D.C.
• Excelsior Citizen | Excelsior Springs, MO
• Fayetteville Flyer | Fayetteville, AR
• Flint Beat | Flint, MI
• Future Tides | Seattle, WA
• Green Philly | Philadelphia, PA
• Grice Connect | Statesboro, GA
• Henrico Citizen | Henrico, VA
• Houston Herald | Houston, MO
• Hy-Lo News | Miami, FL
• India Currents Foundation | San Jose, CA
• KHASOKHAS | Corona, NY
• L.A. TACO | Los Angeles, CA
• LebTown | Lebanon, PA
• LOOKOUT Publications | Phoenix, AZ
• Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service | Milwaukee, WI
• Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk | Columbia, MO
• Montclair Local Nonprofit News | Montclair, NJ
• New Hampshire Center for Public Interest Journalism, publisher of INDepthNH.org | Barrington, NH
• New Mexico In Depth Inc. | Rio Rancho, NM
• NEXTpittsburgh | Pittsburgh, PA
• North Carolina Health News | Chapel Hill, NC
• NowKalamazoo | Kalamazoo, MI
• Oakland Voices |Oakland, CA
• Planet Detroit | Detroit, MI
• Project Optimist | Saint Michael, MN
• QCity Metro | Charlotte, NC
• RANGE Media | Spokane, WA
• Richland Source | Mansfield, OH
• Santa Cruz Local | Santa Cruz, CA
• Shasta Scout | Redding, CA
• Shoresides | Wilmington, NC
• Sierra Nevada Ally | Carson City, NV
• Sopris Sun | Carbondale, CO
• South Dakota News Watch | Sioux Falls, SD
• The Atlanta Voice | Atlanta, GA
• The Badger Project | Madison, WI
• The Current Media Inc. | Lafayette, LA
• The Daily Catch | Red Hook, NY
• The Haitian Times | Brooklyn, NY
• The Independent News | Albuquerque, NM
• The JOLT News Organization | Tumwater, WA
• The Kansas City Defender | Kansas City, MO
• The Land | Cleveland, OH
• The Lawrence Times | Lawrence, KS
• The Lens | New Orleans, LA
• The Maine Monitor | Augusta, ME
• The Philadelphia Hall Monitor | Philadelphia, PA
• The Portager | Mogadore, OH
• The Providence Eye | Providence, RI
• The Riverside Record | Los Angeles, CA
• The Trenton Journal | Trenton, NJ
• The Tributary | Jacksonville, FL
• Tucson Sentinel | Tucson, AZ
• Underscore Native News | Portland, OR
• Vermont Independent Media/The Commons | Brattleboro, VT
• Wausau Pilot & Review | Wausau, WI
• West Texas Tribune | Abilene, TX

In the initial call for newsrooms to apply, Press Forward encouraged respondents to frame their applications through LION’s pillars of sustainability: journalistic impact, operational resilience, and financial health. We hope two years of funding will shore up those pillars for these newsrooms and help those communities continue receiving reliable information from trusted sources. 

We’re thrilled to see the range of outlets selected for these grants. We also know that more than 900 organizations applied for the Open Call, and many of our members applied and were disappointed to hear that they did not receive funding. The LION membership team is looking to add resources and ongoing support for members working on revenue generation, including grant applications. Our News Entrepreneur Academy currently includes several relevant courses, such as Assessing Growth Opportunities and How to Create a Revenue Growth Plan.

Press Foward’s next Open Call, focused on Local News Infrastructure, will open on Nov. 13. Sign up for updates directly from Press Forward.