The largest publicly-funded news fellowship in the nation is a lifeline.
Fellow Aisha Wallace-Palomares. Photo courtesy of Everardo Flores.
When our democratic institutions are in peril, local journalism provides a lifeline — to accountability and integrity, to shared facts and shared community, to stories that move and connect us.
The California Local News Fellowship program — launched with state funding in 2023 — is infusing local journalism with critical reporting resources across the state. Fellows are reporting on under-represented communities from Humboldt to the Imperial Valley, and in urban, suburban and rural communities in between. And they are having an impact, producing thousands of stories every year that would otherwise not be told.
Please take a moment to view the full impact report here.
Program Outcomes & Indicators
We have partnered with independent evaluators Impact Architects to conduct comprehensive annual surveys and produce occasional case studies to evaluate the program's impact on newsrooms, fellows and, most importantly, the communities they serve.
2024 Program Assessment
This assessment explores short-term outcomes and examines how the fellowship influences fellows’ professional growth, newsroom sustainability, and the long-term vitality of local news in California.
2025 Program Assessment
This report shows that the state of California's $25 million investment has had an immediate positive impact on local news ecosystems throughout California. Yet, in order for that impact to reach the journalism industry as a whole in California, or the state of democratic practices and democracy itself, it would need to be sustained far into the future.
Case Studies
The Fellowship is a Win - Win - Win!
Fellows are benefiting
89.5% of fellows report that the fellowship has helped them grow as a journalist.
80% of fellows report that the fellowship has made them more likely to remain a journalist.
Newsrooms are benefiting
92.3% of newsroom respondents report that the relationship between their organization and the communities they serve is stronger because of their fellow.
84.6% of newsroom respondents report greater trust with communities.
Communities are benefiting
80.8% of newsroom respondents say that underserved communities have more access to local news.
77% of newsroom respondents report that they do more public service journalism as a result of having a fellow.