Past Foundation Fellows Grant Recipients

2022 Recipients

With the change to a quarterly grant process starting in spring of 2022, updates will be added as grants are awarded by the selection committee of the PNA Foundation Board of Trustees.

The Summit, the high school student-produced newspaper of the University Scholars Program at the PA Leadership Charter School , West Chester, was awarded a $1,500 grant to support the purchase of Adobe InDesign licenses, the building of their website and the printing of quarterly issues. These funds will keep The Summit publishing after the upcoming graduation of its founder and editor-in-chief who created the paper to establish a spirit of community and togetherness amidst a virtual environment. Adhering to the PNA Foundation’s mission of developing the next generation of journalists, this grant will “provide a strong starting point for future editors to continue expanding The Summit and ensuring that it thrives as a student-driven medium of expression.”
The Chestnut Hill Local was awarded $1,500 to be used towards a computer systems upgrade process. The purchase of a new advertising front end system, updated computers and advanced pagination software will create efficiencies and new opportunities.
Earning a $1,500 grant was the City of Basketball Love, Philadelphia, to support their social media initiative. To boost CoBL’s social media, grant funds will be used to hire a part time social media associate. While increasing their social media and marketing efforts, the addition of this associate will also allow editors to more closely focus on content creation and coverage.
A grant of $1,500 will help the Erie Reader with a legal defense fund. The Erie Reader is defending a multi-million dollar defamation lawsuit involving a PA State Senator and an opinion piece. Recognizing that the First Amendment and the Pennsylvania Constitution protect accurate information of public concern and significance, the Erie Reader is fighting this attempt to silence the media.
TheBurg, Harrisburg, is the recipient of a $1,500 grant to support its climate change series. TheBurg will publish six lengthy feature stories throughout 2023 with the grant monies covering freelance reporting and photography fees. The series will cover climate change in the Harrisburg area and its local impact on education, weather and water, wildlife, agriculture, energy use and the faith community’s role.
The Pittsburgh City Paper earned a $1,500 grant to support their Black-led Community Spotlights series. Monies supported the hiring of Black and Brown writers and photographers for six Black-led Community Spotlights articles as well as the purchase of AP Stylebooks. These efforts encourage inclusive storytelling while serving and describing communities sensitively and appropriately.
The Northside Chronicle’s SURA Project was supported with a $950 grant which funded freelance photography costs. The Northside Chronicle believes that photos not only tell stories, but allow the neighborhoods to see the diversity that exits, depicting objective reality and breaking language barriers.
The Bucks County Herald, Lahaska, was awarded a $1,500 grant to support their “On the Record: How Legislators Voted” project, featuring a weekly column of state and congressional legislation that has an impact on Bucks County. This coverage educates and informs Herald readers about the legislation and the voting records of area representatives. Grant monies helped fund a freelance writer to report on topics of most interest to Herald readers. Read their final report.
The Dillsburg Banner received a $1,500 grant to support the rebuilding of their website. Their goals focused on the modernizing of the website through a updated design, mobile responsiveness, increased security, improved reader engagement and valuable analytical tracking. More details are available here.
StateImpact Pennsylvania – Climate Solutions Deliberative Forum. Climate Solutions is a unique collaboration created to use community engagement, education and solutions-based journalism to help central Pennsylvanians toward climate literacy, resilience and adaptation. The major first-year event was a deliberative forum held October 1, 2022, where grant monies were used to fund honorariums for guest experts speaking at the forum. Read more about this program in their report.
TheBurg, Harrisburg, is the recipient of a $1,500 grant to support its diversity efforts. TheBurg expanded their coverage and representation of Harrisburg’s diverse communities in the pages of their monthly publication. Grant covered the cost of freelance writing/photography/design fees and incidentals. A series of stories was completed and can be read here.
The Uptown Standard received $1,500 towards their My Story Fellowship for up to five African-American high school seniors from Philadelphia who aspire to become journalists and media professionals. Their goal was to develop future media professionals who can sustain a healthy media ecosystem while working to avoid a news desert or limited access to credible news and information in their community. Read about how the students grew and learned.

2021 Recipients

Foundation Fellows Grants recipients were announced in late 2021. The selection committee of the PNA Foundation Board of Trustees awarded grants to four PNA members, donating $5,400 to enhance newsrooms across the state.

The Centre Daily Times, State College, was awarded $1,500 to support its paid summer news internship that includes a fulltime beat of growth and development. Read the CDT’s final report.
The City of Basketball Love, Philadelphia, received $1,500 to expand coverage of the 2021-22 high school and college basketball season with an extra emphasis on girls’ high school district and state playoffs. Review their final report.
PublicSource, Pittsburgh, earned a $1,500 grant to increase the stipend for paid interns which, in turn, enhances the pool and diversity of applicants with greater equity for emerging journalists. Read how the grant helped.
The Daily Item. Sunbury, received $900 to pay for staffers to virtually participate in three days of IRE’s NICAR22 conference featuring a mix of panels, demos, hands-on and on-demand data training. Great training was received with more details available here.

2020 Recipients

In 2020, the selection committee of the PNA Foundation Board of Trustees awarded grants to four PNA members.

The Centre Daily Times was awarded $1,500 to enhance their Penn State podcast, “The Lions Lair,” while expanding their audience and driving digital subscriptions. For more details, read the CDT’s final report.
The Chestnut Hill Local received $1,500 to help in the creation of a new publication focusing on the Wissahickon area reaching out to an extended audience and appealing to additional advertisers. Review the Wissahicken final report.
PublicSource earned a $1,500 grant to support reporting for the Open Campus initiative, providing targeted and in-depth coverage of higher education institutions and trends. Check out the 2020 Public Source final report.
Tioga Publishing received $1,500 to enhance their podcast “What We Hear in the Northern Tier,” improving their online presence and connections with weekly newspapers’ audience. For further information, Tioga’s final report is available.

2019 Recipients

In December 2019, the PNA Foundation announced its first-ever Foundation Fellows Grants recipients. The selection committee of the PNA Foundation Board of Trustees awarded grants to PNA members PublicSource, Pittsburgh, and Tioga Publishing Company, Wellsboro.

PublicSource earned a $1,500 grant to support a new POWER MAP project that will provide residents of Allegheny County with a searchable database of taxpayer-funded boards, authorities and commissions. A final report was submitted in 2020.
Tioga Publishing received $700 to assist in creating a podcast to stay connected with their weekly newspapers’ audiences. Read Tioga’s report.