Pine Knot News lands $100,000 grant

Eight local news outlets across Minnesota are among 205 grant recipients in a historic funding round from Press Forward, a nationwide campaign to strengthen communities by reinvigorating local news.

The Pine Knot News is one of two traditional newspapers among those grantees.

Editor Jana Peterson said staff at the small local newspaper - which turned six years old this month - is ecstatic. Over the next two years, the Pine Knot will receive $50,000 a year in grant funds, along with access to many other resources: all with the aim of strengthening local journalism.

"We figured it was a long shot, but the Pine Knot News is a happy story: a relatively new newspaper that is surviving and producing high quality, original, local journalism," Peterson said. "Now we just have to figure out how to make sure we can stay around as long as the original Pine Knot newspaper - we hope this money will help us become sustainable and a little better at the business side of things."

Other Minnesota grantees include the following:

BLCK Press - Saint Paul

WTIP North Shore Community Radio - Grand Marais

ICTV - Itasca Community Television - Grand Rapids

Project Optimist - Greater Minnesota

SPEAK MPLS - Minneapolis

Swift County Monitor- News - Benson

ThreeSixty Journalism at the University of St. Thomas - Saint Paul

This first round of Press Forward grants adds up to nearly $20 million total, headed to small local news outlets in every U.S. state. Press forward director Dale Anglin said the organization - which fundraises under the umbrella of the Miami Foundation - had to narrow the field from more than 900 grant proposals to 400, and ultimately to the final 205.

"We really want to pause in appreciation for your work filling coverage gaps in underserved areas," Anglin said in a zoom call to grantees. "That is one of the priorities for Press Forward, for your communities and for democracy."

The statistics are not great for newspapers across the country and even in Minnesota, where there are more newspapers than many other parts of the country. The number of print journalists in Minnesota dropped 70 percent from 2000 to 2021, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. In the same time period, the number of print establishments declined 26 percent.

The Pine Knot - started when five people chipped in money in 2018 - is bucking the trend. Peterson credits experienced staff, good journalism plus support from readers and advertisers for the paper's success. She gave high praise to the many freelance writers and photographers who keep the paper filled to the brim each week.

"We are all better and stronger together," she said. "But it still isn't easy. It's nice to get the recognition for what we do and some funds to help us keep moving forward."

As part of its grant goals, the Pine Knot News is also conducting a survey of readers and local residents, published in last week's countywide issue and election guide. To take the survey online, just go to https://www.research.net/r/PineKnotNews.