BirminghamWatch

BirminghamWatch Awarded Two-Year $100,000 Grant From Press Forward

(Source: City of Birmingham)

BirminghamWatch is one of three news organizations in Alabama and 205 outlets nationally receiving a share of $20 million to close persistent coverage gaps, thanks to funding from Press Forward, the nationwide movement to strengthen communities by reinvigorating local news.

The announcement naming the nine-year-old nonprofit news organization, Birmingham-based Latino News, LLC, and Selma-based Black Belt News Network as recipients was made on October 16.

More than 900 proposals were received as part of Press Forward’s first open call. The number of proposals and their quality motivated them to fund twice as many news organizations than originally anticipated.

The funds will help BirminghamWatch expand its coverage of the city and county while helping to continue efforts to build on community support to become a more sustainable organization.

“I’m excited to leverage this funding and exposure to additional news outlets and resources to serve a city I often say was built to change the South, and continues to do so,” said Alabama Initiative for Independent Journalism executive director and BirminghamWatch executive editor André Natta.”It’s nice to see our work recognized nationally.”

Natta expanded on the significance of the funding for the organization in an open letter posted to the website late Wednesday morning.