The American Press Institute today announced additional recipients of its Trusted Elections Network Fund micro-grants.
New funding to expand this initiative to improve audience-centered elections coverage comes from the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation. We are grateful for the additional support, allowing us to fund an additional 5 newsrooms, and bringing the total number of funded projects to 36. Nearly $225,000 has now been awarded to local news organizations and partners for this work. See the first round and second round of grantees here.
API received roughly 100 applications from local newsrooms representing 34 states plus the District of Columbia. These 5 funded projects stood out for their ability to serve critical information needs in the last few weeks before Election Day. They present a premier opportunity, both before and after the election, to learn about how to help communities navigate elections and related misinformation throughout the country.
“We look forward to working with the reporters, editors and experts associated with the projects described below. Look out for lessons and takeaways from these projects over the course of the next few months,” API Executive Director Tom Rosenstiel said. “We will offer these lessons publicly, but please consider joining the Trusted Elections Network if you would like an inside look at the progress these projects make in the next few weeks.”
Kansas City Star (Kansas City, MO)
The Kansas City Star will launch a multi-platform initiative focused on elections and misinformation to help ensure readers they are informed and discerning consumers of political news. The initiative will include a digital event on political misinformation, a user’s guide for spotting misinformation, and a podcast that explains the rigorous standards The Star applies to its fact-based political coverage.
The Longmont Leader / Compass Experiment (Longmont, CO)
The Longmont Leader will translate its voter guide and other election coverage into Spanish.
Mahoning Matters / Compass Experiment (Youngstown, OH)
Mahoning Matters will provide readers with digestible, comprehensive election results down to the county level in real time to help readers better understand and track election results in an environment of widespread mis- and disinformation.
Santa Cruz Local (Santa Cruz, CA)
Santa Cruz Local will translate its elections podcast transcripts and other election reporting into Spanish to complement its ongoing community engagement work and better serve the community’s Spanish-speaking audiences.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, MO)
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch will work to expand the reach of its voter guide by developing video comparisons of candidates and use those videos to purchase boosted posts on social media, especially Instagram and Facebook.
