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Nov 9 - Dec 31, 2023

Fund for Independent Journalism in Monterey County

Mission

The Fund For Independent Journalism In Monterey County operates under the umbrella of the Alternative News Foundation, which supports the growth, education, and professional development of journalists while connecting journalists with mentors.

The foundation has three main objectives:

To work side by side with alt-weekly news organizations to support the core principles of the alternative press: Speaking truth to power, telling stories other publications won’t, and giving voice to those who would otherwise go unheard.

To serve as a fiscal sponsor to independent entities that are in the business of building local news and information infrastructure and initiatives that ultimately serve their communities.

To engage and collaborate with National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP), representing more than 500 Black and Latino-owned news outlets, local alternative publications, and online news sites, to advance the mission behind the Fund For Equity In Local News.

The Big Idea

The struggles of news organizations in the US are themselves newsworthy. According to the Department of Labor newsroom jobs declined by 60% from 2006 to 2021. Our community is not immune to this trend and the once thriving daily newspapers are shells of themselves and increasingly people rely on social media for a primary source of their news.

Our goal is simple: to continue to produce and disseminate quality journalism, reporting and storytelling that serves and strengthens the community by reporting on the critical issues, holding institutions and individuals accountable. The Big Idea for 2024 is to fund a full-time reporter to focus on stories of climate change and weather. Journalism for the future of the industry and the planet. The newspaper, website and daily newsletter of Monterey County Weekly and Monterey County NOW is available for free, but there's nothing inexpensive to produce well-reported, written and edited journalism.

I have greatly appreciated your work for years and for having benefited freely from it. I am contributing a small amount now, quarterly, as a token of that appreciation.

- Adele N