(The Center Square) – Washington State University has announced $2.4 million in funding through its Edward R. Murrow College of Communication to support local journalism.
The funding was championed by state lawmakers based on a 2022 Northwestern University study that found a dozen of Washington’s 39 counties only had one newspaper providing coverage for the entire county.
Financial backing comes by way of this year’s state operating budget, Engrossed Substitue Senate Bill 5187. Section 607, Subsection 42 of the budget appropriates more than $2.4 million from the workforce education investment account for “the development and operations of a journalism fellowship program focused on civic affairs.”
“The crisis in local news has a profound impact on civic life in our state,” WSU Media and Journalism Production Department Chair Benjamin Shors told the WSU Insider. “This innovative program reflects the university’s land-grant mission to serve the people of Washington, wherever they live.”
Shors will be one of the individuals overseeing the fellowship, along with an advisory board.
The Center Square reached out to WSU to determine the purpose and scope of the advisory board, but did not receive a reply before publication.
The program provides funding for two groups of eight fellows and, according to the Murrow Fellowship website, “fellows will receive $55,000 annually with benefits as employees of Washington State University. The fellows will also receive stipends for travel and equipment.”
Those groups will be staggered, with one starting this year, and another beginning the following year.
At this time, “the fellowship is open to journalists committed to careers in writing, digital, video, audio, photo and/or multimedia,” and the program “is open to all news outlets in Washington state, regardless of the media platform.”
The goal is to have these fellows bolster declining local news coverage in Washington.
“Responsible journalism contributes to a stronger and healthier civic life,” Murrow College Dean Bruce Pinkleton said in a statement to WSU Insider. “We believe this program will be a real benefit to citizens and to the communities in which they live and work.”
WSU’s Department of Communication was formed in 1964 from the merger of the Department of Journalism and the broadcasting portion of the Department of Speech. In 1973, the department began an association with WSU alumnus Edward R. Murrow, with the Murrow Communications Center opening as the home of the department. In 2008, the department was elevated to college status with a mission to “provide a professionally-oriented, skills-based education that emphasizes experiential learning and excellence in writing, speaking and digital communication skills.”
