For Funding Partners

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Reliable local news is essential civic infrastructure. It helps communities make informed decisions, stay safe, hold leaders accountable, share successes, discover new experiences, and engage in civic life.

Strong local news organizations do more than report facts—they connect neighbors. Even as the business model for news changes, communities still support legacy local newspapers and public media. At the same time, new models are emerging that serve communities historically underserved by local media, including Black, Indigenous, people of color, and rural communities. These include hyperlocal news providers, information sharing on social media platforms, and trusted local voices who serve as essential information sources.

At the end of 2024, 353 news outlets served the 8.1 million residents of Washington state with regularly published original, journalistic, local content. That’s not a lot. In fact, Washington state newsrooms lost 67% of their workers from 2005 to 2020. Coverage of state politics in Olympia used to be handled by 16 full-time and part-time reporters from across the state. As of 2022, it was down to 5. 

As the landscape of local information transforms, philanthropic investments can stabilize, revitalize, and help reimagine local news for thriving communities. 

WA News Fund supports the full spectrum of local news needs: strengthening trusted outlets, building shared infrastructure, advancing supportive policies, and investing in research and field-building. 

Funders can accelerate resources when timing matters and ensure editorial independence while upholding high standards for accuracy, fairness, and accountability.

WA News Fund brings together funders to create coordinated, high-impact investment in Washington's local news ecosystem. This collaborative approach allows funders to leverage collective resources, share learning, and achieve greater impact than any single organization could alone.