LAFAYETTE, La. (KADN) — There was a big moment for our media partners at The Current on Wednesday. The non-profit news organization that covers Lafayette politics and culture received $100,000 in funding as part of a new nationwide initiative supporting local news.
The milestone funding from Press Forward comes after more than 900 local news organizations from across America applied. The Current was one of only four media outlets in Louisiana and 200 in the country to receive the funding.
"I think it gives us a lot of credibility,” said Christiaan Mader, founder and editor of The Current. “I think it's a credit to our community for supporting an organization like The Current because the reality is there aren't that many of them, right? And so, what's exciting for us as a news organization is to be able to reflect this back to the community that supported us and say, you know, ‘Look, we're for real and we're real because of you.’"
Researchers estimate at least two newspapers shut down each week in the US and roughly two-thirds of journalism jobs have been lost since 2005.
This impact is happening across all news formats, including digital, print, radio, and television.
