A £100,000 fund to support public interest journalism amongst independent publishers in Wales has awarded its first seven grants.
The Welsh Public Interest Journalism Fund is supporting organisations committed to delivering locally relevant public interest news and promoting growth in the Welsh community news sector.
The funding, which involves grants of up to £8,000, will go towards paying publishers for their time producing public interest community news.
The seven recipients include Caerphilly Observer, Cwmbran Life, Deeside.com, Llanelli Online, My Welshpool, Wrexham.com and Welsh language site Golwg 360.
As well as increased coverage of local councils and courts, the grant will also fund increased local news gathering by taking a news van to community locations, increasing focus on local issues and piloting more video content to engage younger people.
The grant is being facilitated by Ping! News CIC – a community interest company run by the Independent Community News Network (ICNN) and Bristol-based developer Omni Digital. Ping! aims to support sustainability in the independent community news sector.
Deputy director of ICNN, Matt Abbott, said: “We are delighted to be able to help support the Welsh Independent News Sector and the vital work it does.
“Independent journalism is essential for serving underrepresented communities and for adding much-needed plurality to the welsh media eco-system.
“These seven successful grantees will deliver a range of diverse projects aimed at increasing the provision of public interest news in Wales and we are excited to see the impact they make.”
Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, Dawn Bowden said: “A robust and independent media is a vital pillar of a healthy democracy, and local community news is an important part of that. I am delighted to see the first recipients of the Welsh Public Interest Journalism Fund being announced and excited to see their impact.
“I urge other publishers to apply for funding and join this exciting new chapter in community news!”
Each recipient is an existing publisher based in Wales that meets ICNN’s admissions standards.
The £100,000 Welsh Public Interest News Fund funding pot is also sustaining two other funding threads – one aimed at new entrants, which is currently underway, and the other an emergency funding pot for existing publishers.
Full details about the scheme are available on www.pingnews.uk.
For further information contact grant administrator John Baron at [email protected] or call 07446 968140.
