New Jersey Could Give $5 Million To Support Local Journalism

A bill on New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy's desk could bolster the state's local news ecosystem. The legislation creates the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium, a nonprofit that would distribute grants to journalism projects in collaboration with five public universities.

The governor is expected to sign the bill later this summer. Meanwhile, the recently enacted state budget has already allocated $5 million to the Consortium. The money came from the 2017 sale of New Jersey's public television licenses.

"This is the state of New Jersey making an official statement about the need to address the local news crisis in the state and then doing something about it,"  said Mike Rispoli, the state director of the nonprofit Free Press Action Fund, who also advocated for the bill.

He told WNYC's Jami Floyd the $5 million will be awarded to hyperlocal news outlets, news literacy initiatives and other projects.

A bipartisan board of 15 members will govern the Consortium and report to the governor and state legislators each year. Lawmakers will appoint six members; the Consortium's member universities will choose five members; and the remaining four seats will be filled by members of the public representing specific industries.

Rispoli said the bipartisan nature of the board is intended to curb the threat of government influence over the Consortium's activities.

"There are safeguards in the legislation that explicitly prohibit any sort of government interference when it comes to the type of reporting that will come out of the projects," he said.  

For the full interview, press the "listen" button.