Press Forward, the national movement to strengthen communities by reinvigorating local news, announced Tuesday that Central Pennsylvania would be among the first 20 Press Forward local chapters across the country.
Press Forward Central Pennsylvania will be operated by the Steinman Institute for Civic Engagement. The Steinman Institute was created in 2023 when LNP Media Group was gifted to WITF by the Steinman family following nearly 158 years in the newspaper business.
The Steinman Institute for Civic Engagement, LNP Media Group, and WITF are now all under Pennon, a brand introduced earlier this year for the former WITF entity.
The institute and the new Press Forward Central Pennsylvania local chapter are backed by The Steinman Foundation through a multi-year grant with a focus on empowering journalists and supporting innovation in media and education.
“Reliable local news is just as essential as clean water. It informs and educates, elevates underrepresented voices, promotes the local economy, maintains community connections, keeps government and powerful people accountable, and so much more,” said Bob Krasne, co-chair of The Steinman Foundation, in a press release. “Becoming a Press Forward local chapter means joining a nationwide effort with others committed to reimagining the future of local news at a time of unprecedented change in the industry.”
The creation of the Press Forward Central Pennsylvania local chapter marks a milestone for the regional local news ecosystem, and brings to Central Pennsylvania opportunities for network-wide coordination, needs assessment, fundraising, and programming, similar to what the Lenfest Institute has done in Philadelphia. (As an aside, the Lenfest Institute was founded in 2016 when cable magnate Gerry Lenfest donated the Philadelphia Inquirer to the new nonprofit and endowed it with $20 million. And where did the Suburban Cable billionaire get his start? Right here in Lebanon County.)
Press Forward is a national coalition investing more than $500 million to strengthen local newsrooms, close longstanding gaps in journalism coverage, advance public policy that expands access to local news, and to scale the infrastructure the sector needs to thrive. Earlier this year, LebTown was announced as one of 205 recipients in Press Forward’s Closing Local Coverage Gaps open call, a grant that LebTown will use to expand coverage for Lebanon County’s rural and Hispanic communities and make this coverage self-sustaining.
Press Forward partners with geographically focused foundations on local chapters, which receive support from Press Forward such as funding, technical assistance, coaching and training, and peer networking opportunities.
Press Forward’s national leaders see the local chapters as the way to turn $500 million into $1 billion, a huge sum in some ways but one that must be put into proportion given the rapid rate of decline in local newspapers across the country, with two local newspapers closing per week and many more in terminal decline.
Press Forward Central Pennsylvania represents an extension and amplification of the journalism-focused philanthropy conducted by the Steinman Foundation and Steinman Institute over the past half-decade, starting with the Lancaster County Local Journalism Fund in 2020.
Former Lancaster city chief of staff Jess King was hired last summer to head the Steinman Institute. King told LebTown that the Press Forward local chapters will leverage support at the local level for the urgent action needed to find sustainable models for local news.
The local chapters are really about how people can be involved and support the cause of local news, said King.
“We are seeking new partnerships among media and funders in our region who have a shared understanding of the challenges communities face with the decline of local news and a shared commitment to solutions, collaboration and support,” she said in a press release announcing the local chapter.
In her interview with LebTown, King said that Press Forward Central Pennsylvania was starting with deep market research to map the region’s news and information resources, including nontraditional news providers such as Facebook groups and social media personalities. Identifying and tracking these information sources will help the local chapter understand audience trends and identify emerging talent across the region. The mapping effort is based on a similar one undertaken by the University of Maryland’s Merrill College of Journalism, which published its Maryland Local News Ecosystem Study earlier this year.
Press Forward Central Pennsylvania will focus on a geographical region that more or less matches WITF’s reach in Central Pennsylvania, with a focus on the most populous core counties – Dauphin, Cumberland, Lancaster, and York – and surrounding counties such as Adams, Franklin, Juniata, Lebanon, and Perry.
Its mapping efforts will extend even further – using WITF TV’s broadcast area as a proxy, counties like Centre, Union, Montour, Berks, and Schuylkill are also within the chapter’s geographic scope.
Press Forward Central Pennsylvania wants to engage with local civic groups to hold listening sessions and better understand audience and community needs. Listening sessions are expected to begin in January and interested groups can contact the chapter through its website or by emailing info@pressforwardcentralpa.org.
The new local chapter can be an institutional partner to existing foundations who might see the need for funding news and information, but not have the experience or capacity to do so themselves.
King said that the chapter can help foundations understand the need for funding in the local news space and navigate the quickly changing landscape, and highlighted the direct connection between a healthy local news ecosystem and achieving the maximum impact on whatever issue a particular funder cares about most, such as education or public health. Press Forward Central Pennsylvania can share its experiences and knowhow with these local foundations and seek partnership opportunities with them.
“We’re well past the time for more decisive action on this work,” said King, adding that the local chapter will help communities understand what’s at stake when local news outlets go away.
“There’s some incredible data out there,” said King, referencing the plethora of studies which show impacts from a lack of local news that range from increased polarization to decreased voter turnout and higher municipal borrowing costs.
More information about Press Forward Central Pennsylvania can be found at pressforwardcentralpa.org.
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