Philanthropies Raise $5.8 million to Support Journalism in Cleveland

The Cleveland Foundation – in partnership with the American Journalism Project and a coalition of foundations – this week announced the launch of one of the nation’s largest local nonprofit newsrooms in an effort to support journalism and provide news coverage to residents in Cleveland.

The $5.8 million investment will be used to create a 25-person team that will provide original, in-depth, non-partisan reporting in northeast Ohio. Its work will be available digitally for free, though the effort will raise revenue through subscriptions, partnerships, and events.

The investment comes as many of Cleveland’s longstanding news outlets have slashed reporting teams — leaving substantial gaps in original news reporting in the region.

The Cleveland Foundation hopes the newsroom will strengthen democracy building in the community.

The project is the latest in a series of efforts by community foundations that are taking bold steps to support local journalism in their communities. In July, for instance, the Wichita Community Foundation made a $1.1 million commitment to launch the Wichita Beacon – a nonprofit news organization dedicated to delivering community-based, public service journalism.