NCPR, Adirondack Community Trust partner on $650k grant project

NCPR’s general manager, Ellen Rocco, just announced that the station has won a major grant to continue developing our news and on-line content for audiences in the North Country.

The goal is to bring folks like In Box readers more deeply into conversations that NCPR fosters.  Here’s the full statement:

ACT and NCPR receive major grant from John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Lake Placid, New York – The Adirondack Community Trust (ACT) in partnership with North Country Public Radio (NCPR) has received a $300,000 challenge grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to invest in the future of NCPR’s ability to expand regional broadcast and digital news and information services with a special emphasis on creating the next generation of public media professionals. With the required match, this project will bring $650,000 to $700,000 into the work of these organizations over the next three years.

The objective of the project, 21st Century Public Media on a Rural Map, is to make all NCPR platforms part of a single, integrated resource for the people of the Adirondack region – a resource that they can increasingly play a part in imagining and shaping. As part of the challenge, this grant has to be matched with local dollars from local residents.

The funding is part of the Knight Community Information Challenge, which encourages community and place-based foundations to support news and information projects that inform and engage residents.

“The Adirondack Community Trust and others like it are part of a growing number of community foundations working to ensure residents have the information they need to make important decisions about their communities,” said Trabian Shorters, Knight Foundation’s vice president for engaging communities. “Ultimately, our democracy will thrive only if we have informed and engaged communities.”

ACT and NCPR are two key organizations tying communities of the region together. This partnership will take NCPR’s service to a new level by expanding its work on existing and emerging platforms and by deepening the integration of community participation in public media. More residents will have access to information on a variety of platforms; they will participate in creating content and sharing information; young people will have an opportunity to work under the guidance of proven professionals to learn the skills of public media; and more people will connect with other residents of the region.

Ellen Rocco, Station Manager for NCPR said, “With this Knight Foundation grant, ACT is making it possible for NCPR to do leading-edge work for our community. And, as an active collaborator on the project, ACT brings expertise, access to and input from people across the region, and a great reputation—contributions that are essential to the project’s success.”

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts; believing that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged.

The Adirondack Community Trust is a community foundation working to build charitable funds to help meet current and future needs of the Adirondack region. ACT is structured so that donors can take full advantage of tax benefits either during their lifetime or through their estates. Funds are pooled for investment and grants are made annually according to donors’ wishes. ACT currently manages 200 funds with assets of $28 million dollars and has made grants in excess of $15 million to benefit the Adirondack region and beyond. If you would like to learn more about the Knight Challenge partnership, visit generousact.org or ncpr.org.

Tags: media