It was just a month ago that Oregon News Exploration received the good news that the Oregon Community Foundation would award us a $100,000 grant to support our continued work. Now, there’s more good news. Today, it was also announced that the project was selected to join the inaugural local news incubator, led by the American Journalism Project, with support from the Google News Initiative. 

This means that for the next 18 months, the team will be able to further explore how to meet Oregon’s information needs. We know from our previous research that huge news gaps exist in Oregon, particularly in rural areas and for communities of color. With the help of AJP, we’ll be able to further explore how to to provide high-quality, community-first reporting and partnerships to disrupt misinformation and target those news gaps. We plan to do this by both supporting Oregon’s existing and emerging newsrooms while working to diversify and train the next generation of Oregon journalists.

Being chosen for this new initiative will allow us to focus on this important work (for John, on a full-time basis, and for Lee, part-time) and expand the team. In addition to a $400,000 grant, we will receive 18 months of coaching on research, editorial strategy, finance, operations, business development and coalition building. John and Lee are now headed to New York, where they will learn more about the incubator program and get to know the journalists behind the three other projects chosen for this program.