Today, the MacArthur Foundation announced the first group of organizations to receive funding through its participation in the philanthropic coalition, Press Forward. CatchLight, as part of this inaugural cohort, will receive a $1 million investment to help make the CatchLight Local Visual Desk, which currently operates in California, available to community newsrooms nationwide.
With this investment from the MacArthur Foundation, CatchLight is set to receive a collective $7.5 million over three years, which includes funding for the CatchLight Local Visual Desk from the Knight Foundation and Arnold Ventures and additional funding from Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, Enlight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, and PhotoWings.
“Visual journalism has a unique ability to engage audiences and promote trust in information. We have found that including high-quality images with news content can double the audience engagement,” says Elodie Mailliet Storm, CEO of CatchLight. “Yet, we have seen massive disinvestment in this powerful tool, with a loss of nearly half of visual journalism positions in US newsrooms over the last 20 years. The CatchLight Local Visual Desk addresses this through a collaborative shared-services model that makes visual storytelling accessible to community newsrooms across the country.”
The CatchLight Local Visual Desk was launched in June 2022 to increase the visual capacity of CatchLight Local newsroom partners. Through this initiative, we placed full-time visual journalists in nine local newsrooms across California and supported them with editing and engagement services from the CatchLight Local Visual Desk.
Our fellows have already provided visual reporting for nearly 1,000 stories, reaching more than 10 million readers statewide with high-quality information relevant to where they live and work. These stories cover the full range of issues that local audiences care about, including breaking news in city and state governments, area crime, schools, the environment and public health, small business and big industry, as well as local events and spotlights of community members.
In addition to the growing audience engagement spurred by our partners’ commitments to strengthening their visual practices with us, CatchLight Local fellows and newsroom members have also gained recognition as leaders in community-based visual journalism, with awards from the California News Publishers Association, Report for America, the Society of Professional Journalists, and San Francisco Press Club.
This historic moment and opportunity for would not be possible without our past and present CatchLight Local newsroom partners: Bay City News, Berkeleyside, Better Government Association, Block Club Chicago, Borderless Magazine, CalMatters, Down in the County, El Tecolote, El Tímpano, India Currents, Black Voice News, The Oaklandside, ProPublica Ilinois, Salinas Californian, and San Francisco Public Press.
We are also thankful for the support of our partners at Arnold Ventures, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, Enlight Foundation, Institute for Nonprofit News, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, PhotoWings, and Report for America; and the early support of Hearst Foundations, Robert R. McCormick Foundation, and NBC Universal.
Newsroom leaders who are interested in how the CatchLight Local Visual Desk can help expand their organization’s visual capacities can reach us at local@catchlight.io or by submitting an inquiry here.
Banner Image:
Post-game with athletes on the Berkeley High School varsity girls flag football team on Sept. 13, 2023. Girls flag football became a sanctioned high school sport in California in February 2023, following the move in states including Florida, Alabama, and Nevada.