Press Forward Stories

Insights and updates from Press Forward’s efforts to reinvigorate local news across the country.

How & Why to Create a Press Forward Profile

If your local news initiative doesn’t meet the criteria for an open call, the organization can still get its mission in front of funders by creating a Press Forward profile  on our grantmaking platform JustFund.

Three learnings from place-based ecosystem funding

When I was in Miami for Knight Media Forum 2024 to announce our role leading Press Forward North Carolina alongside Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation and the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, I celebrated the opportunity to share what’s happening in North Carolina.

Welcome Christina Shih, Press Forward’s New Associate Director

Christina Shih began her journalism career building out the membership program at the Voice of San Diego, one of the country’s first digital nonprofit newsrooms.

‘It Doesn’t Look Like Conventional Journalism’: Local Newsrooms Using SMS and Messaging to Reach Audiences

If this blog post were a text or WhatsApp message, it would be short, sweet and to the point. It may be written in a different language. It may include emojis or a prompt to respond. It would help the recipient make better-informed decisions. Delivering news and information through text-messaging systems or platforms like WhatsApp might sound unusual, but it’s … Read More

A Letter to the Field: From Our New Director

This week is my first as Press Forward’s director, a challenge I’m thrilled to take on. As I am settling in, I have been learning the finer details about Press Forward and wanted to share some perspective and a bit about where we are headed. First, thank you for being patient as Press Forward has worked over the past six … Read More

Meet Dale R. Anglin, Press Forward’s Inaugural Director

Dale R. Anglin grew up in a family of news junkies. If the Chicago Sun-Times wasn’t delivered punctually to their home on Chicago’s South Side, her mom wasn’t happy. Yet at the same time, Anglin realized the news her family needed wasn’t just delivered in that newspaper. Every Sunday, her grandmother insisted on reading her church’s news bulletin. “She had … Read More

Press Forward Alaska Seeks to Expand In-Depth Reporting in Rural Communities

Getting access to local news and information can be challenging in Alaska, where most of the state’s 350 communities are not connected by roads.  So in 2019, the Atwood Foundation, which has deep roots in local news, partnered with the local community foundation to create the Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism. Its mission is to  fund in-depth reporting projects … Read More

Press Forward Minnesota Effort Launches to Strengthen Local News

Crossposted from McKnight Foundation’s blog. Journalism is a force that has always been deeply intertwined with my life, beginning when I observed my father faithfully poring over the daily edition of the Star Tribune. As I progressed to high school, I was featured in the Bloomington Sun Current, which was covering our high school baseball games. The sheer pride of … Read More