Non-Profit Initiative Launched to Bolster Community Journalism in NJ

Webinar on ‘The Future of Local Journalism’ Scheduled For This Tuesday

The Corporation for New Jersey Local Media launched last week as a non-profit initiative to develop strategies to preserve and expand community journalism, including exploring non-profit ownership as a sustainable model for community newspapers.

Nicolas Platt, a Republican Harding Township Committee member and former mayor, and Amanda Richardson, the Harding Democratic chair who ran against him in last November’s election, teamed up to form the Corporation for New Jersey Local Media to “preserve and expand the quality and accessibility of professional journalism that is vital to informed civic engagement and the practice of democracy.”

The new organization launched its website at www.newsweneed.org and will kick off its efforts with a webinar on Tuesday, June 23, at 4 p.m. on “The Future of Local Journalism” that will include the executive director of the non-profit institute that owns the Philadelphia Inquirer and the publisher of Montclair Local, New Jersey’s first non-profit newspaper.

“Local newspapers are the lifeblood of our communities, but their future is increasingly threatened,” said Platt, the non-profit’s founding chair. “Nearly 2,000 community newspapers across the country have closed in the past 15 years, and thousands more have been acquired by large corporations, eliminating the jobs of thousands of reporters who covered council meetings, promoted community engagement and chronicled the lives of their communities.

“We need to think creatively and act aggressively if we want to preserve professional community journalism before it is gone forever,” said Richardson, executive director of the Corporation for New Jersey Local Media. “Fortunately, there are promising new approaches that combine traditional newspaper operations with non-profit fund-raising models to create sustainable community journalism.”

The Corporation for New Jersey Local Media will operate as a special project under the aegis of the Community Foundation of New Jersey, which successfully launched New Jersey Spotlight, the respected public policy website, a decade ago.

“We are pleased to facilitate this important effort to not only preserve community newspapers, but also expand their capacity to enhance civic engagement and participation at the regional and local level on issues of importance, as New Jersey Spotlight did on a statewide basis,” said Hans Dekker, president of the Community Foundation of New Jersey.

While new online news organizations like New Jersey Spotlight have frequently organized as non-profits, the model didn’t begin to spread to traditional newspapers until three years ago, when the Philadelphia Inquirer shifted to community ownership under the Lenfest Institute for Journalism. The Salt Lake Tribune transitioned into a nonprofit last November, and the weekly Montclair Local became the first non-profit newspaper in New Jersey the following month.

Jim Friedlich, executive director and CEO of the Lenfest Institute, and Heeten Choxi, co-founder and publisher of Montclair Local, are two of the panelists for the Corporation for New Jersey Local Media’s webinar on “The Future of New Jersey Local Media.” Joining them will be John Mooney, founder and CEO of New Jersey Spotlight, and Liz Parker, co-publisher and executive editor of the New Jersey Hills Media Group, the state’s largest community newspaper group.

“We are pleased to have such a knowledgeable and thoughtful panel of experts for our opening webinar,” said Platt. “Preserving and expanding community journalism is vital to our democracy, and invite concerned, civic-minded citizens to join us for this important discussion.”

Participants can sign up for the Tuesday, June 23 webinar at https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_p9CghQgzQkiZuKfHfr5SEA and can submit questions for the panelists.

Platt serves as one of New Jersey’s two Shared Services Czars, is president of the Hartley Dodge Foundation, and serves on the boards of GAMCO Advisors and the Eisenhower Foundation. Richardson, a lawyer, previously cofounded and served as program director for Resource Equity, a non-profit with a $1.25 million budget that worked on securing land rights for women internationally.

Rachel Holland, who serves as events coordinator for New Jersey Spotlight, is also taking on that role for the Corporation for New Jersey Local Media. Tamara Pompey, a Los Angeles-based non-profit expert, is serving as chief strategist, and Matt Phillp, a Brooklyn-based marketing specialist, as creative director.

The Corporation for New Jersey Local Media seeks to enhance civic engagement by promoting professional community journalism, fostering public discussion of critical issues, and expanding access to educational programs. Learn more at www.newsweneed.org.