Granite State News Collaborative Receives Grant from The New

Hampshire Charitable Foundation for COVID-19 Reporting

The Granite State News Collaborative recently received a $32,000 grant from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. The grant will help further The Granite State News Collaborative’s mission to share coronavirus coverage among its partners in order to help inform communities across the state. 

Collaborative director Melanie Plenda says the funds will be used to pay freelance journalists to produce statewide Covid-related stories and photographs, which will be shared with all collaborative partners. The Collaborative is also using the grant as seed money to challenge other local donors to help reach a goal of $64,000 in order to continue this effort  through at least the end of the summer.

“In addition to continuing to support the donation drives of our partner outlets, we also hope that donors will help us meet our goal so that we can continue to keep reporters working and keep vital information flowing to our communities,” says Plenda. 

(For information on how to donate to the Granite State News Collaborative’s freelancer fund contact Melanie Plenda at melanie.plenda@collaborativenh.org. Donations may be made payable to NH PBS on behalf of The Granite State News Collaborative; 268 Mast Road, Durham, NH, 03824)

In regard to the NH Charitable Foundation grant, Carol Robidoux, founder of the Granite State News Collaborative and Manchester Ink Link says, “On behalf of the collaborative, I can’t express adequately how grateful we are to the NH Charitable Foundation for recognizing that, now more than ever, support of local journalism is an act of public service. From a professional standpoint, wading through the crush of daily news updates during an international pandemic is daunting.” says Robidoux.  “Having the Granite State News Collaborative assembled and ready to redirect reporting and writing resources to our member media organizations has been invaluable. This grant has done more than fill in the gaps, it helps to make us whole,” says Robidoux.

Dawn DeAngelis, interim chair of the Granite State News Collaborative, adds, ”While news outlets across the Granite State have stepped up to super serve their communities, many have suffered a steep loss in revenue from advertisers. As a result, many have laid off writers and editors. The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation Grant will be used to support Collaborative member Covid-19 news gathering efforts at a time when it’s most needed. We are

so grateful for their support.” 

DeAngelis is the Vice President and Chief Content Officer of New Hampshire PBS. NHPBS also serves as the fiscal agent for the GSNC.   

In order of priority, assignments will be first given to reporters who have been furloughed or laid off due to the COVID- 19 pandemic, followed by full-time freelancers whose assignments have stalled due to budget freezes.

“Supporting quality local journalism is more important than ever,” said Sandeep Bikram Shah, senior program officer at the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. “The Charitable Foundation was an early supporter of the Collaborative because we believe that quality, independent journalism is a critical element for a functioning democracy. And now, in the midst of a public health crisis, residents are turning to the media for reliable information to keep them safe. We’re proud to support this work and would encourage residents to support their local news outlets by purchasing subscriptions and by donating to nonprofit news organization.”

For information on how to donate to the Granite State News Collaborative’s freelancer fund contact Melanie Plenda at melanie.plenda@collaborativenh.org

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About The Granite State News Collaborative

The Granite State News Collaborative is a statewide multimedia news collaborative that draws on and amplifies the strengths of its members to expand and add missing dimensions to coverage of issues of concern to the NH public as a whole, as well as to particular communities. Through coordinated reporting and engagement activities, the Collaborative pursues inclusive and responsive coverage that builds public trust and holds government accountable

to its citizens. 

Collaborative partners include The Berlin Daily Sun, Business NH Magazine, The Concord Monitor, The Conway Daily Sun, The Eagle-Tribune, The Keene Sentinel, The Laconia Daily Sun,Manchester Ink Link,  The Marlin Fitzwater Center at Franklin Pierce University,  The Nashua Telegraph, NH Bar News, NH Business Review, New Hampshire Press Association, New Hampshire PBS, NH Public Radio, The Monadnock Ledger Transcript, ParentingNH Magazine, Seacoast Media Group and The Valley News. 

For more information, visit www.collaborativenh.org or email melanie.plenda@collaborativenh.org

About the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation

The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation is New Hampshire’s statewide community foundation, founded in 1962 by and for the people of New Hampshire. The Foundation manages a growing collection of nearly 2,000 funds created by generous individuals, families and businesses, and awards nearly $40 million in grants and more than $6 million in scholarships every year. The Foundation works with generous and visionary citizens to maximize the power of their giving, supports great work happening in our communities and leads and collaborates on high-impact initiatives. For more information, please visit www.nhcf.org or call 603-225-6641.