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WJCT Expands Local Journalism with support from the Jessie Ball duPont Fund and Report for America

May 23rd, 2022 · Leave a Comment

WJCT Public Media recently announced the expansion of its Local Journalism Initiative through a $300,000 grant from the Jessie Ball duPont Fund and the placement of journalist Will Brown as a Report for America corps member.

The grant from the Jessie Ball duPont Fund Equity and Placemaking Donor Advised Fund will support the growth of Jacksonville Today, a digital-first, nonprofit local news source focusing on the First Coast. Jacksonville Today launched as a weekday newsletter in October 2021, and will expand to a full website later this year.

This grant brings the cumulative funding secured for the Local Journalism Initiative to more than $1.8 million, nearly 75% of the organization’s $2.5 million goal. This funding has helped WJCT Public Media expand its newsroom along with its digital and business capabilities, all necessary ingredients in the creation of a sustainable non-profit local news service.

The nonprofit newsroom most recently welcomed Will Brown, a veteran Northeast Florida journalist who was placed with WJCT Public Media as a member of Report for America’s 2022-23 reporting corps. WJCT Public Media is one of almost 70 new host newsroom partners for 2022, helping to grow a program that now includes 325 journalists placed in 270 local news organizations across the nation.

Brown’s reporting for Jacksonville Today will focus on race, inequality and poverty. Prior to joining WJCT Public Media, he covered transportation, logistics and sports business at the Jacksonville Business Journal.

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