FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (12:00 pm 9/13/10)

Youngstown residents can help set their news agendas

The Raymond John Wean Foundation, Youngstown State University’s journalism program and its partners win grant from Knight Foundation for www.thenewsoutlet.org

Youngstown residents will be able to help shape their news and community needs through a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, as part of its Knight Community Information Challenge.

Knight Foundation has awarded The Raymond John Wean Foundation and thenewsoutlet.org a $79,000 grant to support the start-up news and information venture, operating as a partnership between Youngstown State University’s journalism program, public radio station and NPR affiliate WYSU and The Vindicator, Youngstown’s daily newspaper.

TheNewsOutlet.org pairs YSU journalism students with professionals from The Vindicator and WYSU to produce community-centered, multimedia story packages that will be aired and published by professional media organizations.

The project involves student journalists meeting with area residents to discuss issues and concerns and to develop story ideas, generated by community input.

Based on those meetings and with support from the Public Library of Mahoning County as well as the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative, area residents will be urged to vote for stories they would like TheNewsOutlet.org to report and produce. Residents can vote from any computer, and the Public Libraries will provide free computer access and instructions on how the project works and how residents can participate. In addition, the library will distribute traditional paper “story sheets” and collect paper ballots to reach residents not yet versed in technology.

The NewsOutlet.org, launched and directed by journalism professors Tim Francisco and Alyssa Lenhoff, seeks to bring attention to under-reported stories and issues in the Youngstown Metropolitan area.

The Raymond John Wean Foundation, which provided the start-up funds for the project, believes that the free flow of information is critical to a healthy community and supports efforts to better inform residents.

“Today’s media are grappling with dwindling resources at the same time that they are more fully than ever understanding the need to engage more directly with their communities in innovative ways. Our project aims to address both of these important issues, while helping our students become more involved in the Youngstown community,” Francisco said.