The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has awarded WWNO and three other local non-profit organizations a grant of $102,000 to increase local news coverage on public radio and on the Internet in the New Orleans area. WWNO will receive the funding along with The Lens, an online public interest news organization, NolaVie, a New Orleans arts and culture news website, and the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center, the region's respected source of demographic data and analysis. The Greater New Orleans Foundation will receive the grant on behalf of the four news partners.
This New Orleans partnership is one of twenty winning proposals from across the nation receiving a total of $3.67 million as part of the Knight Community Information Challenge, a program to help community foundations support local news and information, seen as vital to helping communities shape their own futures.
The Knight Foundation grant is being matched with $100,000 in local donations, for a total of $202,000 that is being invested in public service news coverage here. News stories produced by this collaborative effort will be broadcast on WWNO (89.9 FM), reported on the partner organizations' websites, and will also be available to other news organizations — all as part of WWNO's growing commitment to local news. Priorities for news coverage will include public education, the environment, local business, and arts and culture.
Announcing the grant, Paul Maassen, WWNO's general manager, said "WWNO's listeners have made clear to us their desire for more local news on 89.9 FM — news that complements the trusted national and international news that they hear on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and The World. The Knight Foundation grant is a tremendous boost to our innovative local news partnership. This multiplatform presentation of news via digital online and broadcast services will make more news conveniently available to a wider audience. We are grateful to the Knight Foundation for its confidence and support."