The Poynter Institute is reporting that the Local Media Association has launched a new version of a tool called NewsFuel, a database designed to help local newsrooms find funding. Poynter said the tool lets users filter opportunities by topic, search by geographic area, including international opportunities, and search by support organization to see both current and recent offerings.
Poynter said the newsletter item was written by Megan Griffith-Greene, a colleague who works with newsrooms on funding their work and with funders on working with newsrooms. She said there is a great deal of support available to newsrooms, including grants, fellowships, mentoring, training and internships, but finding it is not always easy. She said NewsFuel uses artificial intelligence to identify opportunities, with humans reviewing items before they are published, and that 184 opportunities were listed on the site at the time of writing. Poynter's own Reporting on Brain Health Fellowship is among the opportunities included in the database.
Poynter said Griffith-Greene would like to see the team add customized email alerts for new opportunities users are eligible for, noting that users can currently set up their own alerts using the site's RSS feed.
Poynter also said it has launched a new online course, Ethically Funding Local News: A Practical Course, aimed at funders. It said the course is free, thanks to funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and that newsrooms building relationships with philanthropic organizations may find resources in it to help make their case for support.