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 Contact: Eva Penar

evap@cct.org

312.616.8000 x 161

Foundations Create Local Reporting Initiative

For Low-Income Communities

The Chicago Community Trust Explores Development of an Advertising Network for

Online News 

January 10, 2011, Chicago – The Chicago Community Trust , our region’s community

foundation, announced the creation of a one-year, $247,000 Local Reporting Initiative to

stimulate a wave of new reporting and analysis of important issues affecting low-income

communities on the south and west sides of Chicago.

“High quality reporting and analysis is the lifeblood of civic life,” said Ngoan Le, vice president 

of program for The Chicago Community Trust. “With so many important decisions affecting our

city, county and state in the coming year, it’s essential that citizens and policy-makers know

what’s at stake.“ 

As part of this Initiative, the Trust issued a request for proposals from nonprofits, for-profit 

companies and individuals for Local Reporting Awards totaling $110,000. Some of the awards

will be for $2,000 each and others will be for $10,000.

Le said she hopes that “policy groups, community organizations, media outlets of all kinds and

individuals who care about these communities will be inspired by the Initiative to step up” with

proposals for new reporting projects.

The Initiative is part of the Trust’s Community News Matters program, launched in 2009 by an

initial grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to increase the flow of truthful,

accurate and insightful local news and information and help the region’s cutting edge

innovators develop new models for providing news and information. The Initiative is funded by

The Chicago Community Trust , Knight Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur

Foundation and the McCormick Foundation. The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation and Woods

Fund of Chicago provide funding for other Community News Matters activities.

 All those interested in applying for an award through the Local Reporting Initiative

should attend a special information session January 19 from 10 a.m. to noon on the

second floor at 618 South Michigan Avenue. Proposals are due by noon February 21,

2011. Go to www.communitynewsmatters.org for a copy of the award application and

Request for Proposals. For additional information, contact  vivian@cct.org. 

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 The Community News Matters program also announced that it has commissioned a feasibility

study, to be completed by February 28, of the possibility of establishing an advertising network 

to support Chicago’s media innovators. 

“Finding ways to pay for the news and information citizens need is one of the critical challenges

of our age,” Le said. “Chicago is blessed with a wealth of new media innovators trying to

develop new models for the future. We are happy to enable them to explore whether, by

banding together, they might be able to generate additional financial support for their vital

work.”

The Local Reporting Initiative is a direct response to the findings of a 2010 Community News

Matters research report that found “all too often, people in the Chicago area don’t feel they

know enough about the region’s challenges,” said Clark Bell, the McCormick Foundation’s

Journalism Program Director. “Residents of low-income South Side and West Sideneighborhoods are especially concerned about the lack of news organizations covering relevant 

issues in their communities.” 

(The study, News That Matters: An Assessment of Chicago’s Information Landscape, will be

released this winter. See a preview of its findings here.) 

The goals of the new Local Reporting Initiative are to:

Produce in 2011 a burst of impactful relevant coverage of, by, and for the project’starget communities that sheds light on current and future decisions of city, countyand state governments;

Stimulate the emergence of sources and voices of coverage that can help fill theinformation gap in these areas;

Develop new ways and channels to spread high-quality, civically relevant information and build interest and engagement among citizens.

The target communities are low-income neighborhoods on the south and west sides of Chicago, including Archer Heights, Armour Square, Auburn Gresham, Austin, AvalonPark, Bridgeport, Brighton Park, Burnside, Chatham, Chicago Lawn, Douglas, East Garfield Park, East Side, Englewood, Fuller Park, Gage Park, Grand Boulevard, GreaterGrand Crossing, Humboldt Park, Kenwood, Lower West Side, McKinley Park, New City,

North Lawndale, Oakland, Pullman, Riverdale, Roseland, South Chicago, South Deering,South Lawndale, South Shore, Washington Heights, Washington Park, West Englewood,West Garfield Park, West Pullman and Woodlawn.

The Initiative includes:

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 1.  $110,000 in Local Reporting Awards to be awarded to individuals, nonprofits

and for-profit companies. Community Media Workshop and the Chicago Reporter

will jointly manage the awards program.

2.  $35,000 to The Chicago Reporter for project administration and for an in-depthreporting project. Experts from the Reporter will provide ongoing guidance, editingand other assistance to award winners, as needed, to help them maximize thequality of the reporting projects.

3.  $35,000 to the Community Media Workshop for project administration and forvarious activities to maximize dissemination of the work produced by awardwinners, including a regular blog featuring reporting produced by the projects, byCMW, the Reporter and other sources; active use of social networks; andspearheading of other joint dissemination efforts with award winners.

4.  $35,000 to Windy Citizen.com Inc. t o develop a mobile application and scalablewidget system to enable WindyCitizen.com to better distribute and collect content off-site.

5.  $17,000 to Gapers Block Media LLC for original reporting on GapersBlock.comabout issues affecting the Initiative’s target communities.

6.  $15,000 to Columbia College for advertising sales development for AustinTalks.org, a website and newsletter covering the Austin neighborhood.

Regarding the advertising network feasibility study, Joe Michaud, owner of LocalInteractive Strategies LLC of Cumberland, Maine, has been commissioned to assess the

feasibility of forming an ad network of Chicago area news and information sites.

He will interview local site operators, advertisers, potential ad sales partners andoperators of other networks and evaluate likely revenue and expenses, salesapproaches, technology and other resources needed and the capacity of likelyparticipant sites to support and use a network.

An online news pioneer, innovator and consultant on interactive products and sales,Michaud developed and launched MaineToday.com. He is a former president of the NewEngland New Media Association.

About The Chicago Community Trust 

For 95 years, The Chicago Community Trust, our region’s community foundation, has connected

the generosity of donors with community needs by making grants to organizations working to

improve metropolitan Chicago. In 2010, the Trust, together with its donors, granted more than

$100 million to nonprofit organizations: developing new audiences to sustain Chicago’s vibrant 

arts organizations, protecting the human success safety net for those hardest hit by the

recession, stemming the devastating effects of foreclosures on our communities, elevating

teaching to meet world class standards; and improving conditions for healthy and active

lifestyles. To learn more, please visit the Trust online at  www.cct.org. 

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The Community News Matters program is part of the Knight Community InformationChallenge, a five-year, $24 million effort to help community foundations find creativeways to use new media and technology to keep residents informed and engaged. TheTrust received one of the Challenge’s first matching grants. The challenge is premisedon the belief that in a democracy, information is essential for a community to functionproperly and that community foundations are logical partners for meeting communityinformation needs.

About the Community Media WorkshopSince 1989 Community Media Workshop has worked to diversify the voices in news

and public debates by providing a unique mix of communications coaching forgrassroots, arts and other nonprofit organizations and sourcing grassroots andcommunity news for journalists. Connecting the community with media, the Workshoppromotes news that matters.

About The Chicago Reporter

The Chicago Reporter's investigations engage leaders and concerned citizens in critical issues – 

all with a unique focus on race and poverty. The bimonthly print and online newsmagazine

serves as an important watchdog of government and other institutions. Now in its 39th year, its

pioneering use of sophisticated data analysis, multimedia features and compelling personal

accounts continues to make an impact. Used by politicians and government officials, policy

makers, academics and concerned individuals nationwide, the Reporter still breaks news andinfluences agendas.

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