Legislature approves news fellowships

Journalism in Washington State will get a shot in the arm starting this year as a new journalism fellowship program ramps up at Washington State University.

ties, school board meetings aren’t being covered, court proceedings aren’t being scrutinized, and local government actions aren’t being questioned.”

Officers: Michelle Nedved, President; Donna Etchey, 1st Vice President; Sean Flaherty, 2nd Vice President; Steve Powell, Past President; Trustees: Roger Harnack, Teresa Myers, Rudi Alcott, Matt Winters, Staci Baird and Bob Richardson.

THE WASHINGTON NEWSPAPER is the offical publication of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association. It is published monthly by WNPA, PO Box 389, Port Townsend, WA 98368.

Fred Obee: Executive Director: 360-344-2938 Email: fredobee@wnpa.com

Janay Collins, Member Services Director: 360-344-2938. Email: ads@wnpa.com

The Washington State Legislature appropriated $2.4 million to be spent over the next two years to establish a new public-interest journalism fellowship program in the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at WSU.

The measure was sponsored by Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Des Moines) and Sen. Marko Liias (D-Everett).

“A strong press is fundamental to a thriving democracy,” said Keiser, a graduate of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and veteran of newsrooms in Oregon, Colorado, and Washington. “Yet Washington has has lost 20% of its newspapers over the past two decades. That means in many communi -

Modeled on the recently established California Local News Fellowship, the program at WSU is expected to take in eight recent graduates per year for two-year reporting stints at existing news outlets around the state in areas that lack local reporting.

Fellows witl earn a salary of $55,000 a year. Upon completion, they will earn a certificate in digital media innovation from WSU. Half of the fellows will be WSU graduates.

Benjamin Shors, chair of the WSU’s journalism department, said many details aboout the program are yet to be finalized.

Who will be eligible to apply? How and where will they be placed? Will they be assigned to a single paper or to a cluster of papers?

Shors said answers to those questions are now being examined. Goals for the program include improving information on civic affairs, and creating an experience that will keep promising young journalists in the profession.

“Responsible journalism contributes to a stronger and healthier civic life,” said Bruce Pinkleton, dean of the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication.

Shors added: “The project aligns with our mission as a land-grant institution to serve the state. We want to increase news coverage of underrepresented communities from rural to urban, and we want to better prepare the next generation of journalists to understand and report responsibly on these communities.”