The Center for Community News (CCN) at the University of Vermont (̽̽) will dramatically expand efforts to grow partnerships between local news outlets and universities across the country, forging a path to sustainability for local reporting in the regions that need it most. Thanks to the , the , and others, CCN will ramp up research, programming, education, and advocacy for student reporting programs, which are playing an increasingly vital role in reporting local news for Americans.
“̽̽’s land-grant mission drives us to develop innovative solutions to the challenges vexing communities in Vermont and across the country,” said ̽̽ President Suresh Garimella. “We appreciate these investments by the Knight Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation, which demonstrate their confidence in our approach and underscore the importance of trustworthy information to the health of democracy and civil discourse. We are very proud to promote student participation in civic life through the Center for Community News.”
CCN is the first and only organization in the country devoted to growing news-academic partnerships – a model that has emerged over the past decade in response to shrinking local news resources, fewer beat reporters and diminished statehouse coverage. These partnerships are mutually beneficial arrangements for students, news outlets and their communities because they offer hands-on civic experiences for students while providing a pipeline of professional news coverage for communities.
“Student reporters now provide millions of people with professional coverage of local issues,” said Richard Watts, Director, ̽̽ Center for Community News. “Our mandate is to facilitate collaboration, learning and growth across this field of reporting programs to ensure its sustainability in an otherwise volatile news industry.”
CCN’s ambitious plan to grow news-academic partnerships is made possible by a $5 million investment from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; a $500,000 grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; and significant investments from the ̽̽ College of Arts and Sciences and generous ̽̽ donors. Knight Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation help lead the initiative, a national coalition of funders that have committed to investing in the future of democracy by revitalizing local news and information.
“News-academic partnerships are increasingly becoming a vital source of information in many communities today,” said Jim Brady, Vice President for Journalism at Knight Foundation. “The Center for Community News is helping make this model a viable pathway to sustainability. We’re proud to support CCN’s growth and innovation.”
CCN launched in 2022 with a mission to grow and support partnerships between student reporting programs at U.S. colleges and their local news outlets. It was inspired by the success of ̽̽’s own news-academic program, which continues to thrive and serve as a laboratory for testing new ideas in sustainable community journalism.
“Vermont is an ideal testing ground for these innovations because we have relatively accessible government and media at a scale that allows us to be creative and nimble,” said William Falls, Dean of ̽̽’s College of Arts and Sciences. “As a land grant university, contributing to the civic infrastructure of our state and nation is a priority for ̽̽.”
Since its inception less than two years ago, CCN has been hard at work in its discovery phase, mapping the landscape of student community reporting; conducting research on the challenges and opportunities for growth in the field; and creating a collaborative community of faculty members who lead these programs. This advance work will empower CCN to dive headfirst into its expanded plans for organizing and supporting faculty leaders in its next phase.
“We’re thinking bigger than just news sustainability with these partnerships,” said CCN Managing Director Meg Little Reilly. “We want to cultivate trust in the next generation of engaged citizens, community leaders, news providers and consumers. These are critical ingredients in a functional democracy.”
CCN accomplishments to date include:
- Identified and written case studies on the more than 100 news-academic partnerships across the country, helped new programs grow through the initiative, and seeded the establishment of new ones.
- Produced research and reports on the state of student reporting.
- Produced of the national landscape. Maps are easily downloadable and free for partners, advocates, and media outlets to use.
- Produced a , including guidance on program models, funding, syllabi, legal questions, ethical considerations, and more.
- Established a robust schedule of virtual and in-person events featuring national experts throughout the year.
- Made dozens of contributions to news commentary and coverage of the state of journalism today.
CCN’s next high-priority projects include: conducting an expanded benchmark study of the impact of student reporting across the country; assisting a coalition of southern colleges and HBCUs in a regional strategy to grow student reporting; and exploring the untapped potential for public media partnerships with universities.