Seattle Times partners with LMA on funding lab

 

Local Media Association has formed a partnership with The Seattle Times to oversee curriculum for a lab being developed as part of the association’s new Center for Journalism Funding.

Fifteen publishers will be invited to join the lab, which will focus on strategies to fund journalism through philanthropy. Applications will open in early August. The lab will launch in mid-September and operate through the end of March. It will involve a diverse mix of publishers including newspapers, broadcasters, digital news outlets, for-profit, non-profit and public, says a LMA press release.

Joaquin Alvarado, executive director of Project Accelerate at The Seattle Times, will lead the effort.

LMA and lab faculty will measure success by the incremental revenue raised by the group, says the release. The initial goal is $2.25 million raised by June 30, 2021, an average of $150,000 per media organization.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Joaquin and the team at The Seattle Times on this important initiative,” said Nancy Lane, chief executive officer of LMA. “When it comes to funding journalism through philanthropy, no for-profit media company does it better than The Seattle Times. They’ve been at it the longest and have the best track record of success.”

Google News Initiative is providing funding to launch the lab. LMA will hire a managing director for the center who will work with lab participants on their execution strategies. The managing director will also oversee LMA’s fundraising efforts for the Fund for Local Journalism and the Fund for Black Journalism.

The Local Media Consortium says it’s a “strategic alliance of local media companies whose members produce more than 90% of local news and sports journalism in the United States.”

News and Tech