• by Ray Schultz , Yesterday

Google is providing new support for the American Journalism Project (AJP). The purpose is to strengthen sustainability and help local nonprofit news publishers. 

AJP will use the funding to help high-potential news organizations and to mobilize local philanthropy to address information gaps. It will also launch an accelerator program to help newsrooms grow their audiences with digital marketing.

The accelerator program will provide specialized support to help nonprofit newsrooms with issues like audience growth, earned revenue, talent, finance, product and AI. It will be part of AJP’s Knight Resiliency Lab.

No dollar amount was announced. AJP has raised over $225 million to support nonprofit local news since its founding in 2019. This includes over $68 million in local philanthropy. 

“As nonprofit newsrooms work to meet the information needs of their communities, audience growth is a critical path to long-term sustainability,” says Sarabeth Berman, CEO of the American Journalism Project. “We’re proud to partner with Google to help local news organizations deepen their reach and impact.”

Chrissy Towle, director of association and local news partnerships at Google, adds that “AJP has a strong track record of growing nonprofit news organizations and building innovative models that are reshaping how local communities access reliable, high-quality information.”