California Press Foundation’s Equipment Grants 2024

The California Press Foundation's 2024 Campus Equipment Grants program aims to enhance the quality of campus media programs across California. This initiative aligns with the foundation's broader mission to support and develop journalistic endeavors, by directly addressing the technological needs of student news programs. By providing funding for essential hardware and software, the foundation empowers the next generation of journalists with the tools necessary to produce high-quality content and improve their delivery methods. The target beneficiaries of this program are fledgling and established high school and college news programs in California. The primary impact goal is to improve the overall quality and reach of student publications by upgrading their technical capabilities. This directly contributes to a more robust and modern campus media landscape, fostering an environment where students can gain practical experience with industry-standard equipment and practices. The program prioritizes the acquisition of new hardware or software, as well as upgrades that directly contribute to the improvement of content quality and delivery for campus media. Applicants are required to articulate their current equipment's limitations and clearly demonstrate how the requested new or upgraded equipment will enhance their publications. This focus ensures that the grants are strategically utilized to address specific, identified needs within each news program. Expected outcomes include a measurable improvement in the technical infrastructure of participating campus news programs, leading to more professional and engaging content. This could manifest as enhanced visual and audio quality, more efficient content creation workflows, and broader distribution capabilities. Ultimately, the program seeks to equip students with the skills and resources needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving media landscape, contributing to the long-term sustainability and excellence of California's collegiate and high school journalism. The maximum grant amount for this program is $1,500, with applications needing to be overseen by an individual advising the news program.