New Mexico Local News Accelerator

The New Mexico Local News Fund is supporting another round of grants to support diverse local newsrooms in the state and help them reach financial sustainability through the New Mexico Local News Accelerator. In addition to financial support, newsrooms will receive one-one-one coaching, and support from other newsroom leaders across the state through regular cohort meetings. (You can read about last year’s cohort here.)

Newsrooms will receive $6,000 in grants. Unlike in past years, the funds must be used to further a specific revenue idea for the publisher. This will need to be spelled out in the application and finalized at the start of the program. There is flexibility to pivot from that idea twice during the Accelerator.

This year, the program will have the following features and requirements:

  • The program will run for 6 months, from April through September 2023.
  • It is open to any organization (for-profit or nonprofit) that focuses primarily on news, including previous Accelerator grantees. Newsrooms can be print, radio, TV or digital.
  • The cohort meetings will take place monthly over Zoom, with special guests (and cohort members) talking in-depth on important topics.
  • The Local News Fund’s Mark Glaser will again be overseeing the program, but we will engage outside consultants to help keep newsrooms on track with their revenue focus. 
  • Each newsroom will be required to join the monthly cohort meetings as well as one monthly check-in Zoom meeting, call or email with the program coordinator, Mark Glaser, along with relevant consultants based on topic need.
  • All grantees will be eligible to join our annual Matching Campaign in December, with the Local News Fund matching up to $5,000 in donations, subscriptions or memberships sold that month.
  • At the start of the program, there will be a “Demo Day” on Zoom, with 90 minutes of demos of relevant technology for publishers. Accelerator participants are expected to attend or watch the video afterwards.

Opportunity offered by:

New Mexico Local News Fund

The New Mexico Local News Fund works with community members and journalists who believe that local journalism is crucial for our communities. NMLNF raises funds to support local news providers and…
Contact for application information
Online application form
Opportunity type

Fellowship

Location(s) where available

New Mexico

Minimum grant amount (USD)

$6,000

Maximum grant amount (USD)

$

Areas of focus

General Funding
Newsroom Innovation
Underrepresented Community(ies)

Application deadline:
March 10, 2023