Youngstown State University’s News Outlet was recently awarded a $62,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
This is the second consecutive year that the News Outlet has received a Community Information Challenge grant from the Knight Foundation.
The News Outlet, located in Smith Hall, provides students with the opportunity to work with professionals in the field of journalism and have their work published in regional publications.
“It’s a totally different professional experience,” said Alyssa Lenhoff, co-director of the News Outlet.
Lenhoff said the News Outlet has produced dozens of articles, including a recent look into the likelihood of the Mahoning River ever being purified and an investigative article on questionable practices at the House of Hope.
“It actually involves neighboring residents in selecting the stories that would be important to the communtiy,” said Gordon Wean, chairman of the board of directors for the Raymond John Wean Foundation. “We very much value what they do because one of our important values is the inclusion of the resident in the news making process.”
The News Outlet partners with the Akron Beacon Journal, WYSU-FM, Rubber City Radio, the Vindicator, Kent State University and the University of Akron.
“We’re adding new media partners all the time,” Lenhoff said.
The News Outlet has also received grants totaling more than $40,000 from the Raymond John Wean Foundation and the Youngstown Foundation.
“We were pleased to offer initial and ongoing support for this exciting project and believe that it has already made an important difference in the type of news and information available to citizens of the Mahoning Valley,” Jeff Glebocki, president of the Raymond John Wean Foundation, said in a YSU press release.