Washington State College might halve and even cancel the state’s fledgling journalism fellowship program as a result of the Legislature slashed its funding.
I hope they don’t quit and discover totally different choices first.
The state of affairs presents a possibility to collaborate with native information retailers on methods to enhance and lengthen the fellowship program. Making it extra impartial, and fewer tethered to WSU, is value exploring.
There’s a brief menu of ways in which states might help maintain native information protection that’s a public good and important to democracy.
Fellowships are maybe the simplest of those choices. They bolster the native information business and supply job coaching to latest school graduates.
Washington’s fellowship program was envisioned as a method to restore civic information protection that voters and residents want. It’s modeled on a bigger program in California that’s also facing funds uncertainty.
Beginning in early 2024, WSU placed 16 early profession journalists at native information retailers across the state for two-year phrases. It additionally positioned two legislative correspondents in Olympia this 12 months.
The state initially supplied $2.4 million. That included $800,000 to ramp up in 12 months one and $1.6 million in 12 months two for ongoing operations. It sought $3 million for the subsequent two years.
Final month Democratic funds writers reduce the annual funding by half as they scrounged for cash to continue to grow state authorities. A Republican funds proposal continued the funding however was rejected.
I requested Home Appropriations Chair Timm Ormsby, a Spokane Democrat, to remark however he didn’t reply earlier than my deadline.
Remaining funding of $1.5 million will run out in a couple of 12 months so there’s not sufficient to rent the subsequent cohort of eight Murrow Fellows, Ben Shors, journalism chair at WSU’s Murrow Faculty, instructed me final Thursday.
WSU will search extra funding within the supplemental funds drafted within the subsequent legislative session “or look laborious at closing this system at that time,” Shors stated.
This week Shors was much less dire. He stated the college desires to proceed this system, with fewer fellows if needed with a smaller funds.
“If we get the funding we wish to run this system however must make modifications,” he stated Wednesday.
Shors stated this system is trimming ancillary spending, together with funding for analysis into Washington’s information ecosystem.
Altogether program prices had been going to be roughly $1.5 million in its second 12 months, together with analysis, a program director, fellow salaries and bills.
“Now that’s what we’ve been allotted for 2 years. That can be primarily gone in somewhat over a 12 months,” he stated.
I requested Gov. Bob Ferguson on Tuesday, throughout a gathering with The Seattle Occasions editorial board, about restoring the fellowship’s funding. He stated it might be restored subsequent 12 months relying on “the place our economic system goes.”
“We’ve spoken earlier than about journalism, the way forward for journalism, so I’m clearly fairly supportive,” he stated. “And that’s what supplementals are for, is to reevaluate and have a look and see what received disregarded or what must be restored, or what may have to be reduce once more.”
Former state Sen. Karen Keiser, a Des Moines Democrat who secured the fellowship’s preliminary funding in 2023, is speaking to local-journalism advocates about the best way to make this system complete.
“A letter has gone in to the governor asking him to veto that individual reduce,” she stated. “It’s such a modest amount of cash, it truly is funds mud within the literal sense.”
If funding isn’t restored, the college ought to work with information publishers on methods to profit from what stays, slightly than kill the fellowship.
Some retailers might be able to share the price of using fellows. Non-public funders may be capable of assist cowl prices. That may in all probability require extra flexibility than the present strategy, during which fellows are employed as state staff with fastened salaries ($55,000) administered via Pullman.
Ferguson stated he additionally helps one other journalism proposal, to tax massive tech corporations that profit from information content material and distribute proceeds to native information retailers. The car to try this, Senate Bill 5400, died late within the session however Ferguson favors making an attempt once more subsequent 12 months.
“There appears to be the curiosity in it for positive, so, and, that’s one I’m blissful to kind of interact in and see if we will be useful on as properly,” he stated.
The governor was extra obscure about what he’ll do with Senate Invoice 5814, a hodgepodge of last-minute taxes the Legislature imposed final month. It features a tax on promoting that not directly impacts information retailers and is likely to end up in court. It additionally considerably will increase taxes on tech corporations, making it far tougher to go a journalism invoice like 5400 subsequent 12 months.
“There could also be a bit of it I could not like however I’m not capable of go take out the entire part, if that is smart,” Ferguson stated, including that it’s “too quickly to say” what he’ll do with 5814.
In the meantime, Murrow Fellows proceed churning out native information tales for 22 information retailers. They produced 1,328 tales in this system’s first 12 months, in keeping with WSU’s tally.
“It’s been so nice,” Questen Inghram, a fellow protecting Decrease Yakima Valley communities for the Yakima Herald-Republic, instructed me. “I’m like 5 years out of school and I’d been determined to get one thing like this and it feels nice to be hitting the pavement.”
Get pleasure from it, and the native information reporting, whereas it lasts.
