Quantcast
Thursday, March 28, 2024

California Bails Out Berkeley Journalism Program, Promises More Minorities

'How states and communities can support journalism as a public good needs to be at the center of our thinking...'

(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) California Governor Gavin Newsom has dedicated $25 million in state funds to UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, in order to “support and strengthen local reporting in underserved and historically underrepresented areas across the state.”

According to The Post Millennial, Geeta Anand, dean of the program, explained why the money would be used in this particular way in a post on Twitter.

“We’ve got three reasons for taking this on,” she posted. “1: we all see the world through the prism of our own lived experiences. So, who our storytellers are matters. If we don’t have a diverse group of people becoming journalists, then we miss stories that matter.”

She goes on, touting the program’s scholarship programs and explaining that the influx of money will also forestall “corruption and disinformation.”

“Democracy is in trouble,” she wrote in a second tweet. “We need to put journalism to work to protect it.”

“That’s what this project aims to do by putting talented early career journalists into local news organizations around the state.

Anand concluded by saying that it is time for the government to invest in journalism as a “public good.”

“This may reset the debate about the role of the public sector in journalism,” Anand said. “Private philanthropy can only do so much, and billionaire owners aren’t a solution.”

“How states and communities can support journalism as a public good needs to be at the center of our thinking,” she concluded.

The spending raised eyebrows for several reasons—particularly the allocation of such a large sum of money when Californians are suffering under inflation.

Many also thought that government-funded journalism could lead to some problems.

Copyright 2024. No part of this site may be reproduced in whole or in part in any manner other than RSS without the permission of the copyright owner. Distribution via RSS is subject to our RSS Terms of Service and is strictly enforced. To inquire about licensing our content, use the contact form at https://headlineusa.com/advertising.
- Advertisement -

TRENDING NOW

TRENDING NOW