Welcome to the Local Fix. Every other week we look at key questions in journalism sustainability and community engagement through the lens of local news. But first, we always begin with one good idea…

Shoutout your neighbors

Somehow it’s September!?

As we soak up these last few days of summer we’re also looking forward to what’s coming up this fall. (And not just the pumpkin flavors!) Here’s what’s on our team’s radar heading into the sunset of the year; what about yours? 

• Reconnecting at ONA, Media Impact Funders’ JFunders, & the Independent News Sustainability Summit: Christine will dip her toe back into the world of journalism conferences for the first time since 2019, with a mask, hand sanitizer, and maybe a surprise or two up her sleeve. See you there? 
• Taking part in Democracy Day: Angelica is excited to see over 300 newsrooms join Democracy Day, and for the project to continue on to next year with support from us at Democracy Fund. There’s still time to join in; find out how here.
• Gearing up for NewsMatch: It’s almost that time for nonprofit newsrooms to start sending out their pitches for matching end-of-year donations. Check out NewsMatch’s spiffy new website and Teresa is putting a note in her calendar to support folks later this year. You can start putting together your own end-of-year calls for donation; check out this Lenfest chat on September 8 about end-of-year fundraising that might help.
• Watching the Black in the Newsroom documentary: Josh is looking forward to Media2070’s documentary which you can catch at an upcoming screening, or request your own screening. “When Black journalists are marginalized and pushed out of journalism, the results are disastrous,” said Collette Watson, vice president of cultural strategy for Free Press, co-creator of Media 2070 and director of Black in the Newsroom. This documentary shows that and more.
• And making good use of freshly harvested fall produce, of course. Theresa of Democracy Fund’s grants team (our resident chef on Slack) is eyeing this sausage stuffed acorn squash recipe, and this apple cinnamon bread has been Christine’s go-to fall bake the past few years. More ideas are welcome!

On our radar

Reads

• Collaborative Sustainability Guide: How to earn revenue to grow and thrive — Center for Cooperative Media, Solutions Journalism Network, Lenfest Institute 
• These news orgs are building beats from reader donations — Stephanie Castellano, American Press Institute 
• Newsrooms need to hire more working-class journalists — Amir Khafagy, NBCU Academy 
• Person-centered terms encourage stigmatized groups’ trust in news — Center for Media Engagement & Resolve Philly

Jobs and other opportunities

• Media strategy research associate, Impact Architects, $65,000-$90,000, deadline September 16
• Assistant professor of journalism, Stony Brook University as part of the new Solutions Journalism Hub, salary not specified, deadline October 1 to begin August 2023
• Audience manager, URL Media, salary and deadline not specified
• Freelance researchers and writers, Institute for Nonprofit News, $20,000 for supporting the INN Index and $5,000 for a case study on media insurance

Have a delightful weekend,

Christine and Teresa
@heres_christine and @gteresa

The Local Fix is a project of Democracy Fund’s Public Square Program, which supports work that aims to transform journalism so everyone has access to information they need to participate in our democracy.

Disclosure: Some projects mentioned in this newsletter may be funded by Democracy Fund. You can find a full list of the organizations here.
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