The state-funded California Local News Fellowship launched in 2023 to foster informed and engaged communities throughout the state. The program, which places early career journalists in newsrooms for two year reporting fellowships, is designed to strengthen local news and help launch journalism careers. In order to measure the impact and growth of the program, an independent evaluator — Impact Architects — was charged with conducting a comprehensive survey to annually evaluate the impact of the program on newsrooms and fellows and, most importantly, on the communities they serve.
This first report establishes a baseline through which we will evaluate growth and future success. Please find the full report here.
Utilizing a theory of change framework, the evaluators looked at both the immediate outcomes and potential impact of the fellowship program on both fellows and newsrooms.
Short-term goals for newsrooms include increasing editorial and reporting capacity and trust with the community. Long-term goals for newsrooms include building a diverse pipeline of young journalists and serving communities through consistent coverage.
The short-term goals for fellows include increasing reporting skills, building professional networks and working full time for two years. Long-term goals include staying in the industry and in California.
The desired impact of the program overall is to create a more informed community that has greater trust in journalism as well as build civic participation and a stronger democracy. This state-funded fellowship model is already being replicated in Washington state and New Mexico. Our intent is to continue to share our model and takeaways to inform similar fellowships in more states.
Of the 37 newsrooms in our first cohort, 33 responded to this survey. All 39 fellows responded.
Some of the broad and key findings of this baseline survey include:
- The majority of newsrooms hope their California Local News Fellow will expand the outlet’s community reach across demographic, geographic, linguistic and political lines.
- Most newsrooms selected reporting beats for their fellows based on community need.
- The fellows are motivated by opportunities for professional growth, having a positive impact on communities and maintaining financial security while gaining reporting experience. Fellows indicated that the primary motivation to apply for the fellowship was financial stability.
Future reports will track the growth and impact of the program from these baseline findings and will include numerous case studies that document the impact the fellows and their newsrooms are having on California communities.