What We’ve Accomplished … So Far
Since its launch in 2018, the nonprofit Local Journalism Project has helped revitalize local journalism on Outer Cape Cod by financially supporting the work of aspiring journalists at its partner The Provincetown Independent weekly newspaper and highlighting local journalism’s importance through community outreach.
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Reporting Fellowships
Awarded 26 paid reporter training fellowships since 2020 at The Provincetown Independent to college students and recent graduates committed to revitalizing community journalism.
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Full-Time Positions
Funded 3 to 4 full-time reporting jobs at The Provincetown Independent annually for young journalists in the first or second year of their careers.
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Grants and Donations
Raised over $1.3 million from more than 2,800 individual donors and philanthropic organizations since 2018 to finance our mission.
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Community Events
Staged 18 readings and other community events since 2019 to encourage and highlight the relationship between local journalism and civic life.
Volunteers from the International Fund for Animal Welfare rescue a stranded dolphin near Powers Landing in Wellfleet on July 2, 2024. (Photo by Steven Bliss)
Supporting Environmental reporting
The Local Journalism Project supports in-depth, specialized journalism by underwriting the cost of an environmental reporter position at The Provincetown Independent.
Given the importance Outer Cape residents place on environmental preservation, the Independent hired William von Herff, a scientist-turned-science journalist from Ottawa, Ontario who joined the Independent after earning a master’s degree in science writing from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2023.
Funded with a grant from The Local Journalism Project, his reporting focuses on the environment, wildlife, climate change, history, and his biggest passion: birds. (Read William’s Articles)
Local Journalism Project fellows trained in The Provincetown Independent’s newsroom have gone on to work at leading local and national news organizations or pursued important social research.
Training Young Journalists
The Wall Street Journal
The Daily Yonder
The Christian Science Monitor
Fulbright Scholar Progam
The Boston Globe
Dumbarton Oaks
In the news
journalists supported by local journalism project recognized
Since 2021, 14 journalists whose work at The Provincetown Independent was funded by The Local Journalism Project, won a total of 25 awards from the New England Newspaper and Press Association and the National Association of LGBTQ Journalists. (Read More)
The future of local journalism
The work of the Independent and Local Journalism Project is highlighted in news reports about the future of local journalism.
“A Silver Lining in the Story of Private Equity Killing the Press” (The American Prospect)
“In Provincetown, a startup weekly newspaper is challenging Gannett” (Media Nation)
“There’s Hope for Local Journalism” (The Atlantic)
“They’re starting — yes, starting — a newspaper on the Cape” (Boston Globe)
“Dark Days For Newspapers See A New Light In Provincetown” (WGBH - Public Television and Radio)
“Are We Saving the News?” (Knight First Amendment Institute)