National Pride Grant for LGBTQIA+ Small Businesses 2024

The National Press Foundation (NPF) is offering a professional development fellowship designed to equip journalists with enhanced skills and knowledge, and to reinvigorate their reporting, particularly concerning the 2024 election cycle. This program directly aligns with the NPF's mission to support and improve journalism, especially in critical areas of public interest. By focusing on election reporting, the NPF reinforces the importance of a well-informed populace and a robust democratic process, which are foundational to their overarching strategic goals of fostering high-quality, impactful journalism. The target beneficiaries for this fellowship are U.S. journalists, with a particular emphasis on fostering diversity. NPF specifically seeks applications from local and nonprofit news organizations, Black, Indigenous, and other journalists of color, and those engaged in public interest reporting in undercovered areas. The impact goal is to better prepare these journalists for the unique challenges of reporting on elections, thereby strengthening the quality and accuracy of election coverage across the country. The program's priorities and focuses are clearly outlined through its topical areas, which include election infrastructure, election safety and security, voting rights and changes in voting laws, ranked choice voting, voter disinformation, and lessons learned from the 2020 election. This comprehensive approach addresses the multifaceted nature of modern election reporting. The NPF's theory of change appears to be that by providing in-depth training from expert speakers and instructors on these critical topics, journalists will be better equipped to provide fair, accurate, and resilient coverage, which in turn will help maintain public confidence in the democratic process. The expected outcomes include journalists who are more knowledgeable and skilled in navigating complex election-related issues, better prepared to counteract disinformation, and more resilient in the face of threats and harassment. While specific measurable results are not explicitly detailed in terms of quantitative metrics, the qualitative outcome is a significant improvement in the caliber of election reporting, especially in key battleground states and undercovered regions. The mandatory attendance for all sessions and the requirement for editors to free reporters from daily obligations underscore the NPF's commitment to ensuring a deep and impactful learning experience for participants.