Center for Cooperative Media releases 2024 annual report
A year of strategic growth and record-breaking collaborative journalism
I’m pleased to share the Center for Cooperative Media’s 2024 annual report with you, which chronicles another productive year at Montclair State University.
This last year was characterized by quiet but deliberate work as the Center focused on strengthening the New Jersey news ecosystem while laying the groundwork for expanded national efforts to support collaborative journalism.
Our key accomplishments in 2024 include:
- Record-breaking U.S. Democracy Day participation: The third annual U.S. Democracy Day saw 241 newsrooms from all 50 states and Puerto Rico participate, producing 268 journalism pieces about democracy and democratic institutions — a 47% increase in participation and a 98.5% increase in content from the previous year.
- Knight Foundation grant milestone: The Center secured a $2.5M grant from the Knight Foundation to support the launch of 20+ journalism collaboratives nationwide over the next 5 years, along with revenue and impact coaching.
- Enhanced ethnic media support: The Center hosted the first New Jersey Ethnic and Community Media Expo, bringing together 80+ attendees to connect community media organizations with policymakers and officials.
- Expanded Spanish translation service: Our Spanish Translation News Service initiative grew to 17 partner organizations (7 Spanish-language and 10 English-language publications), translating 175 stories that were republished more than 1,000 times.
- Vital research initiatives: The Center conducted groundbreaking research on the diversity of New Jersey’s media landscape and analyzed state advertising spending to understand its impact on local and ethnic media.
The Center also made significant inroads in South Jersey through our Stories Invincible project in Camden and the South Jersey Information Equity Project, investing $74,500 directly into reporting fellows.
The Center continued supporting collaborative journalism through its database tracking 1,056 collaborative reporting projects, another successful Collaborative Journalism Summit in Detroit, and important electoral coverage through our school board voter guide initiative.
Financially, the Center raised $1.1 million in 2024 for operations and projects across New Jersey and the United States. This funding came from Democracy Fund, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the NJ Civic Information Consortium, Independence Public Media Foundation, Inasmuch Foundation, and Rita Allen Foundation.
The Center also welcomed its first Civic Science Fellow, Catherine Devine, who spent 2024 studying the intersection of civic science and media across the U.S. and will work to catalyze civic science media collaborations in 2025.
As the Center closes out its previous five-year strategic plan, it has developed a new strategic roadmap to guide future work, focusing on strengthening local journalism through collaboration, equity, and innovation.
The Center’s staff extends our heartfelt thanks to its host institution, the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University, its funders, and all the partners that make up the NJ News Commons network, who continue to meet the news and information needs of communities throughout New Jersey.
You can read the full annual report by clicking here and check out our previous annual reports by visiting the Center’s website.
Thank you for your continued support as we work to grow and strengthen local journalism in New Jersey and beyond!
Joe Amditis is the assistant director of operations at the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University. Contact him at amditisj@montclair.edu or on Twitter at @jsamditis.
About the Center for Cooperative Media: The Center is a primarily grant-funded program of the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University. Its mission is to grow and strengthen local journalism and support an informed society in New Jersey and beyond. The Center is supported with funding from Montclair State University, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Democracy Fund, the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium, the Independence Public Media Foundation, Rita Allen Foundation, Inasmuch Foundation and John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. For more information, visit centerforcooperativemedia.org.
