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.

  • Reporting Fellowships

    Awarded more than 30 paid reporter training fellowships since 2020 at The Provincetown Independent to college students and recent graduates committed to revitalizing community journalism.

  • 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.

  • Grants and Donations

    Raised over $1.3 million from more than 2,800 individual donors and philanthropic organizations since 2018 to finance our mission.

  • 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 condominium on Commercial Street in Provincetown, Mass.

housing local journalists

The housing crisis endangers journalism. Top-notch reporting cannot be done remotely. Journalists need to live in the communities they are covering. But low pay and rising housing costs have kept newsrooms in many communities from bringing new people into the profession. The problem is extreme on Outer Cape Cod, where real estate is costly and year-round rentals are nearly nonexistent.

The Local Journalism Project purchased a three-bedroom, three-bathroom home in Provincetown, Mass. for $1,495,000, which it rents at below market rate to reporters hired by The Provincetown Independent newspaper, an organization we have supported since 2018 - both financially and with an education and community outreach program that highlights the role local journalism plays in civic life.

A targeted capital campaign to help fund the housing purchase raised more than $500,000 in just two months from nearly 100 local individuals and family foundations who sent gifts ranging from $10 to $150,000. (Learn More: Editor & Publisher Magazine, February, 2026)

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, 15 journalists whose work at The Provincetown Independent was funded by The Local Journalism Project, won a total of 32 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.