CPB will continue to invest in increasing capacity at public radio and television stations to create high-quality original and enterprise journalism by supporting additional Regional Journalism Collaborations (“RJCs”) that will establish reporting partnerships between multiple station newsrooms in a state or region.
Each new RJC should be driven by a focused editorial strategy that is of common interest to the communities served by the RJCs and that will result in more original and enterprise journalism and more “news of distinction” in identified topic areas (“Editorial Strategy”). The objectives of the RJCs are to leverage public media’s network of local stations to provide stronger local news service to the public media audience and to increase the flow of locally produced content of national interest to the signature national programs. An additional objective of the RJCs is to expand the diversity of public media’s journalism workforce and coverage to reflect the racial and ethnic diversity and range of perspectives throughout America.
CPB defines news collaborations or strategic alliances as groups of stations (or producers) entering into formal agreements to work together as an editorial unit under common leadership for the foreseeable future. RJC applications will be accepted from regional groups of at least three (3) CPB radio/television grantees with current combined news staff of at least eight (8) full-time journalists, and RJCs will be supported over a 24-month time period leading to a formal and ongoing journalism partnership. RJCs may also work with other local/regional news organizations that bring relevant and diverse perspectives to coverage (e.g., ethnic newspapers, non-profit news organizations and investigative reporting entities).
