Re-Imagining Community Journalism

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A nonprofit fundraiser supporting

WSLR & Fogartyville
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To bring people together to create more equitable, responsive and impactful local media.

$1,070

raised by 16 people

$10,000 goal

SUPPORT LOCAL NEWS & PUBLIC AFFAIRS!

In response to the declining access to local news, WSLR is launching a Community News Fund to re-imagine community journalism and  expand the capacity of the organization to provide local news and information to the Sarasota-Manatee community. Over the next two years, WSLR hopes to build a program of public service journalism modeled after the program developed by City Bureau, a Chicago-based civic journalism lab. In less than three years, City Bureau has gone from an audacious idea to a replicable model for more equitable, inclusive and representational community news coverage.   The model works to bring journalists and communities together in a collaborative spirit to produce equitable media coverage and encourage civic participation. There are three elements to the program - a Civic Journalism Reporting Fellowship, the Documenters Program and a free Public Newsroom forum — which work together to broaden paths of entry into the journalism industry, increase transparency and accessibility at local public governance meetings and bring people into solutions-based dialogue.  

The decline of local news is associated with higher polarization, decreased voter turnout, less cross-party voting, increased corruption and more government waste.  The decline of local reporting means residents are less well-informed about schools, government effectiveness, economic development, criminal justice, health care, the environment, crime, religion, issues facing small businesses and the basic elements of community life.  

WSLR's current news and public affairs programming includes a ½ hour weekly local news program ‘Critical Times Week in Review’, daily local news briefs, a website and associated social media, the quarterly Critical Times newspaper, and several local public affairs shows – including The Detail and the Peace and Justice Report.  The News Department currently operates with one part-time paid news producer, student interns, and volunteers.  WSLR has active internship programs with New College of Florida and the University of South Florida.  Your support will help us increase the capacity of our organization to produce and distribute more local content.

WSLR’s Community News Fund aims to support local journalism and ensure that community members have the information they need to make informed decisions about local issues and that residents are aware of resources they can access to support their businesses, their health and their overall wellbeing.   


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