YSU’s NewsOutlet wins $62K grant

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The NewsOutlet at Youngstown State University has won a $62,000 Community Information Challenge grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

It is the second-consecutive year that the NewsOutlet has won a grant from the prestigious Knight Foundation.

The NewsOutlet, a partnership among YSU, WYSU-FM, The Vindicator, Kent State University, The Akron Beacon Journal, the University of Akron and Rubber City Radio (Akron), links student reporters with media professionals and journalism faculty to provide critical information to Ohio citizens through investigative and enterprise journalism.

The Knight Foundation grant matches a $30,000 grant from the Raymond John Wean Foundation and a $15,000 grant from the Youngstown Foundation; Kent State University and the University of Akron have contributed an additional $12,000 for the project. YSU has provided ongoing support for the project.

“The Wean and Youngstown foundations and others like it are part of a growing number of community and place-based foundations working to ensure that residents have the information they need to make informed and important decisions about their communities,” said Trabian Shorters, Knight Foundation’s vice president for engaging communities.

“Ultimately, our democracy will only thrive if we have informed and engaged communities.”

Co-directed by YSU journalism faculty members Tim Francisco and Alyssa Lenhoff, The NewsOutlet has produced dozens of investigative and enterprise stories that have raised awareness about key issues in the community. Recent stories have included an investigation of the Mahoning River and its likelihood of ever being cleaned from years of dumping by former steel companies and an examination of food deserts in the region.

Jeffrey Glebocki, president of the Raymond John Wean Foundation, said The NewsOutlet is an important project for the Mahoning Valley and that the board of the Warren-based foundation recognizes how important vibrant media is to the health of the Mahoning Valley.

“We were pleased to offer initial and ongoing support for this exciting project and believe that it has already made an important difference in the type of news and information available to citizens of the Mahoning Valley,” Glebocki said.

For more information, contact Jeff Glebocki at the Raymond John Wean Foundation at 330-394-5600 or jglebocki@rjweanfdn.org.