To combat the continuing loss of local news in Pennsylvania, Spotlight PA launched its first pilot regional bureau based in State College and covering north-central Pennsylvania. We hope this bureau will serve as a model for how to address the crisis in local news in communities across the state. As part of this initiative, Spotlight PA hired a team of journalists dedicated to the region, which represents a sizable and significant infusion of talent relative to the number of current reporters.
A Novel Approach to Reinvigorating Local News
Our team of journalists has the time, resources, and mandate to dig deep into the issues of the region. You can expect reporting on everything from the challenges facing rural communities to Penn State to local accountability issues like how our tax dollars are spent and how our towns are run. All of Spotlight PA’s reporting is conducted through an equity and accountability lens, examining issues that are causing harm and proposing solutions.
The team is employed by Spotlight PA and receives organizational support from the statewide newsroom, including management and editing — thus avoiding the significant start-up costs associated with launching a brand-new, nonprofit news outlet. The bureau publishes via Spotlight PA’s extensive distribution network, elevating issues of regional importance to a statewide audience, while also fostering mutual understanding among all Pennsylvanians.
Fundraising
We estimate this new bureau will cost approximately $500,000 a year to sustain at its proposed size, and its future will depend on local support from the community. You can support this special effort by clicking here, or to learn more about getting involved, please contact Spotlight PA Director of Individual and Corporate Giving Michelle Mertz at michelle@spotlightpa.org.
We’re so grateful to our founding individual donors for supporting this effort (see our State College bureau donor list below).
This expansion has also been made possible by a $1 million grant from the American Journalism Project, which is focused on enhancing Spotlight PA’s business and operations capacity to enable it to expand its journalism locally.
