|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The New Bedford Light will join the Associated Press Fund for Journalism’s local news program next month, allowing us to publish stories, photos, and video from The Associated Press for the first time.
The Light will be among 100 nonprofit news outlets in the program, which launched with 50 outlets a year ago and is adding 50 more.
“This expansion is an important step as we continue to scale our program in support of local news across the country,” said Rachel White, CEO of APFJ. “In less than a year, we’re already helping local outlets move faster, reach more people, and better serve their communities by providing the content, tools, services, and training they need to grow and sustain their news organizations.”
Starting in April, The Light will be free to publish Associated Press journalism from Massachusetts and beyond. The Associated Press, founded in 1846 and based in New York, is “one of the oldest, largest, and most respected news agencies in the world,” according to Encyclopedia Britannica.
APFJ is the nonprofit started by The Associated Press in 2024 to support local journalism. It provides AP text, photos, video and election results to its partner newsrooms for free. It also offers guides for member newsrooms seeking to localize national stories.
The partnership will also expand the audience for The Light’s journalism. Participating newsrooms can share some of their own content through AP’s distribution network.
“We’re honored to be chosen by The Associated Press to participate in this important local news initiative,” said Karen Bordeleau, executive editor of The Light. “This is an excellent opportunity for The Light to not only offer our audiences more content but also to share our explanatory and investigative journalism on critical topics — offshore wind, the environment, immigration, education, health and government — well beyond the South Coast of Massachusetts.”
APFJ’s partnership with The Light will last at least one year, but may be renewed.
The 50 new APFJ newsrooms are located across the nation. They include several newsrooms in the Southwest and Alaska, Spanish-language outlets, and college newspapers.