What a difference six months can make

It has been six months since The Pivot Fund announced its inaugural cohort of grantee newsrooms. We’re already seeing significant impacts within our partner organizations and the communities they serve. In a nation dotted with news deserts and plagued by disinformation, the lessons we’re learning from these investments are critically important in tackling the crisis in local news far beyond Central Georgia

We thank our grantee partners – all people of color, running organizations with far more community trust than resources – for their thoughtful responses to our questions and for allowing us to share their experiences. 

Here’s what’s happened since The Pivot Fund’s initial investment:

• Pasa la Voz Savannah is seeing a
  • 272 percent increase in page views
  • 35 percent increase in Facebook followers 
  • Nominated for BEST FACEBOOK PAGE by Connect Savannah 2023
  • Landed its first $10,000 sponsorship, thanks to a new advertising salesperson
  • Landed a $5,000 grant from American Press Institute
  • Under its new editor-in-chief, Fernando Soto Gauldin, broke a story about a local bus driver banning pupils from speaking Spanish
  • In the aftermath of what happened in Uvalde, TX, Pasa la Voz led coverage of a school shooting hoax that caused Hispanic parents to panic.

• BEE-TV is seeing a
  • 140 percent increase in audience thanks in large part to its new sports editor, who is generating content for a new Facebook page and newsletter product developed with Pivot Fund partner Letterhead
  • Generating $5,000 a month in new advertising revenue, which doesn’t include a projected $124,000 in sports-related newsletter and event revenue that will support their overall news coverage
  • Covered COVID outbreak among the local jail population
  • Received a $13,000 grant from Google
• Courier Echo Latino and Davis Broadcasting
  • Increased event attendance to more than 1,600 from just 15 before Pivot Fund invested in their partnership. 
  • Amid a crucial midterm election, teamed up to cover local and state races and hold a series of successful get-out-the-vote events that helped attract nearly 3,000 people who voted— the largest number of ballots cast in a single day of voting in Muscogee County history.
  • Entered a legal partnership with support from the Center for Cooperative Media and the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice
• NotiVisión Georgia 
  • Launched a website to end their dependency on Facebook
  • Landed $25,000 in new sponsorship
  • Hired a content manager and gained 2,500+ new Instagram followers

Lots of good news, but we’re also learning a lot, including how difficult it is for rural newsrooms to recruit and hire qualified people, especially editorial talent. Our solution: partnering with colleges and universities to match our grantee partners with a rising generation of talent. 

Our experience in Central Georgia confirms that many news organizations led by people of color – vital to their communities but little-known beyond – can flourish with access to funds and expertise. Expanding this model nationally will be transformational as it gives communities alternatives to polarizing national news and disinformation, helps immigrants succeed in America, and gives all citizens the tools they need to vote and participate in civic life. 

We invite you to join us in supporting this movement.