CatchLight Local Visual Desk in California is Supporting New Models for Visual Journalism in Local News
CatchLight, a visual-first media organization, has selected five visual journalists as CatchLight Local Fellows, partially subsidizing their full time staff positions as they join California partner news organizations. They are part of a groundbreaking collaborative initiative to transform a local news landscape that has seen newsroom visual journalism staff nationwide sliced in half over the past decade.
The CatchLight Local Fellows will become part of the CatchLight Local Visual Desk in California, a new collaborative model for visual journalism that funds five to ten Visual Journalism Fellows, a Visual Editor, and CatchLight’s Editorial and Engagement Director for the next three years to help advance visual representation in local news in California. This initiative was made possible with the support of five philanthropic organizations: the Enlight Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Hearst Foundations, in partnership with PhotoWings, for a combined investment of over $2 million.
“This is such an exciting time for CatchLight to be able to bring back the power of visual journalism in local newsrooms in California through long term staff positions,” said Elodie Mailliet Storm, CatchLight’s CEO. “Visuals have the unique ability to create empathy, establish common ground and effectively build trust in local news sources of information.”
In addition to those philanthropic organizations, Report for America is a partner, offering financial support to cover a portion of three of the journalists’ $60,000 salaries.
On June 1, the CatchLight Local Fellows will join news organizations based in California’s Inland Empire, the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento as staff members for a minimum of one year (positions can be renewed for up to three years). Each Fellow, in addition to covering daily assignments, will undertake longform visual journalism features, as well as community engagement projects to further connect their newsroom to the local community. For most of the newsrooms, this will be the first time they have had a full-time visual journalist on staff and represents a significant development.
“In 2022, the Black Voice News will celebrate our 50th anniversary and this collaboration with CatchLight and Report for America is allowing us for the first time to employ a full-time visual journalist. We have long understood the power that images have in storytelling and are looking forward to being a Catchlight Local California Visual Desk newsroom to bring that power to our growing solutions-focused data reporting team,” said Paulette Brown-Hinds, Publisher, Black Voice News.
“Changing the tide to focus on creating visual resources to better document stories affecting local communities has become more critical than ever for photojournalism work, allowing a better understanding of what solutions may emerge, a need at the heart of many communities today. CatchLight Fellows are doing just that through their impactful work in communities in California and beyond,” said Xin Liu, President of Enlight Foundation.
“As newspapers shed jobs, photo departments have been hit hard. Coverage in the SF Bay Area has suffered greatly. Communities previously flush with news coverage are now passed over for bigger news and issues. I am incredibly excited for the opportunity to work with CatchLight Local, visually documenting issues of overlooked Bay Area communities to identify their causes and explore possible solutions,” said Bay City News Photo Editor Ray Saint Germain.
The three Fellows selected under the partnership with Report for America are Maddala, Noroozi and Natera; they are concurrently Report for America Corps Members and will receive the full range of that program’s benefits as well as of CatchLight Local’s.
“We believe deeply in the power of visual journalism to inform and unite communities. CatchLight is leading the way,” said Kevin Grant, Co-Founder and Chief Content Officer of The GroundTruth Project and Vice President at Report for America. “We are so proud to deepen our relationship with this phenomenal team.”
The news organizations that will host the newly selected Fellows range widely in size and scope. CalMatters is nonpartisan, nonprofit journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s State Capitol works and why it matters; India Currents is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, multi-platform ethnic media organization focused on the Indian American community; Berkeleyside is a nonprofit news organization serving the city of Berkeley; Bay City News is a nonprofit news site that provides free, data-driven, public service journalism to the San Francisco Bay Area; and Black Voice News is an Inland Empire news site focusing on advocacy, solutions-oriented and data-driven reporting.
Contact Director of CatchLight Local, Jenny Stratton at local@catchlight.io with questions or press queries.