Playbook Grants

“Because of the nature of the quick-moving work that we do as journalists, it’s often our instinct to approach reporting and engagement with a top-down approach and provide readers with answers to a set of questions that arise over the course of our reporting. LPC offers an important reminder: Sometimes the best stories and insights come directly from the community, and all you have to do is take the time to ask.”

– Courtney Teague, Honolulu Civil Beat

“The LPC folks have done the work and built in best practices based on working with their grantees. [The Playbook] provides a clear, detailed road map on how to engage our community so that our local news project has the best chance of success.”

– Steve Burger, Evansville News Lab

“The Playbook’s methodologies for conducting comprehensive Information Ecosystem Assessments (IEA) align with our goal of identifying the unique information needs of our targeted communities, allowing us to engage directly with community members, and understand their media habits, preferences, and gaps in information access.

– Niketa Reed, True Soul Media

“The Listening Post Collective was one of the first organizations The Rapidian turned to for support when we relaunched our platform a year ago. We chose to work with LPC and their playbook because it provides easy-to-customize templates that save our small newsroom time and effort. The Playbook has been instrumental in guiding our Information Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) work and refining our mission at The Rapidian.”

– Allison Donahue, The Rapidian

“The Playbook’s Civic Media Design process, with its phases of Listen, Seed, and Cultivate, underscored the importance of understanding and addressing community-specific information needs. The project reinforced the importance of culturally relevant content and the vital role of media in preserving cultural identity and fostering a sense of belonging among immigrant communities. Additionally, the emphasis on ethical journalism and sustainable media practices has deepened my appreciation for the need for robust financial and operational structures in media outlets.”

– Faisal Karimi, Nowruz Media

“The combination of the Playbook and funding provided me with the tools and confidence to demonstrate to my leadership team (many of whom don’t come from journalism backgrounds) just how essential thoughtful community listening is. LPC’s support helped show that, for a new local newsroom to truly serve its community, it’s vital to engage with residents directly and collaboratively shape our coverage priorities. Rather than relying on assumptions about what our communities need, we’ve been able to invite community members into the process, ensuring our reporting is responsive to those needs and useful.”

– Noelle Fujii-Oride, Overstory Hawai‘i

“This project encouraged us to pay attention to building long-term trust in our readership and to be thoughtful in considering the best platform or channel for a project. We are now framing our newsroom not just as a content producer, but as a civic information resource – not just producing and responding to ephemeral events, but creating important evergreen resources that will impact our community long-term.”

– Maggie McGuire, Moab Sun News

“Without the support of LPC, we might have remained stuck in a stagnant starting phase. The subgrant made a real difference by giving us the time and resources to focus on what was most important at this particular moment. It allowed us to learn how to become better local media directors and journalists, and to define the direction in which we should grow.”

– Victor Hugo Febres, Esta es la Cosa