FRESNO, Calif., Feb. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Fresno Bee
announced the launch of the Fresnoland Lab, an innovative
journalism initiative in collaboration with Fresnoland Media, a
local nonprofit, to cover critical issues shaping the future of the
central San Joaquin Valley. The
Fresnoland Lab will focus on water, land use, housing and
neighborhood opportunity and that will test new approaches to
engage citizens and make local news more accessible. The
Fresno Bee is one of five McClatchy newsrooms in
California.
A dedicated team of four journalists with an ambitious
commitment to in-depth reporting will be hired to report, write and
edit for Fresnoland. The lab will be featured in a special section
on The Fresno Bee website and publish a weekly newsletter,
open-source information and host public events, all of which will
be available at no cost.
The Fresnoland Lab is made possible with the financial support
of The James Irvine Foundation, the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation
and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
"We are grateful for the support of our funders, whose
contributions are integral to our work and the lab's ability to
reach new audiences," said Tim
Ritchey, Publisher of The Fresno Bee.
The Fresnoland Lab team, in collaboration with others in the
news organization, will train 20 to 30 citizen journalists who will
attend and document public and community meetings throughout the
region. Their reporting will become an open-source repository of
information for other community media partners to use and will also
serve as source material for reporting projects for the Fresnoland
Lab team.
The Fresnoland Lab will also host eight Public Newsroom events
in its first year to connect and build relationships with the
region's diverse residents. These events will be held at community
centers and libraries and will include Spanish/Hmong translation
and childcare. One Public Newsroom event will be held primarily in
Spanish and another primarily in Hmong.
"This is a unique opportunity for The Bee to bolster local
journalism on topics that are critical to the advancement of the
central San Joaquin Valley and
test approaches to engage members of our community in new and
exciting ways," commented Joe Kieta,
Editor of The Fresno Bee.
Kieta also announced the appointment of Danielle Bergstrom as Policy and Engagement
Editor of the Fresnoland Lab. She is an urban planner with more
than a dozen years of experience working in local government and
philanthropy and founder of the nonprofit Fresnoland Media.
An editor and two reporters will be hired to complete the
Fresnoland Lab team and will be housed in the Bee's newsroom and
report to Kieta.
"I'm excited to join forces with The Fresno Bee to build on the
mission of Fresnoland," said Danielle
Bergstrom, formerly Director of Fresnoland. "Our goal is to
help explain complicated policies and programs in our community
that impact the lives of residents in the Fresno area. We know that the San Joaquin Valley is ground zero for what the
country could look like in 20 years and these stories offer a
preview to the challenges that many American regions may
face."
The Fresnoland Lab is The Bee's second significant journalism
initiative in the last year supported by donor funding. In
September, The Bee launched the Education Lab, which focuses on
education issues critical to the advancement of residents in
Fresno and the San Joaquin
Valley.
The Fresnoland Lab will go live in late February on The Fresno
Bee website. In the meantime, readers can learn more about the Lab
and sign up for the weekly newsletter on the Fresnoland Lab landing
page.
About McClatchy
McClatchy operates 30 media companies
in 14 states, providing each of its communities with strong
independent local journalism in the public interest and advertising
services in a wide array of digital and print formats. McClatchy
publishes iconic local brands including the Miami Herald, The
Kansas City Star, The Sacramento Bee, The Charlotte Observer,
The (Raleigh)News &
Observer, and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. McClatchy is
headquartered in Sacramento,
Calif., and listed on the New York Stock Exchange American
under the symbol MNI. #ReadLocal
Contact: Jeanne Segal
jsegal@mcclatchy.com
o) 202-383-6085
m) 202-271-8880
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-fresno-bee-launches-innovative-journalism-initiative-to-cover-critical-issues-shaping-the-future-of-the-san-joaquin-valley-water-land-use-housing-and-neighborhood-opportunity-301000816.html
SOURCE McClatchy