South Jersey Information Equity Project enters phase two, seeks project coordinator

Project expands thanks to support from the Independence Public Media Foundation

The Center for Cooperative Media is thrilled to announce an expansion of the South Jersey Information Equity Project thanks to funding from Independence Public Media Foundation.

The South Jersey Information Equity Project was conceived in late 2019 through a partnership with the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists. Its goal is to address media inequity in South Jersey, specifically by seeking to improve the quality and quantity of news and information produced by and for communities of color.

In its first phase — launched in April 2020 as New Jersey newsrooms adapted to a shrinking news landscape and economic stressors driven by the COVID-19 pandemic — the Center hired veteran journalist and South Jersey resident Sarah Glover to assess the news landscape for Black communities and journalists.

Sarah’s hire was made possible thanks to the generous support of The Nicholson Foundation.

Over the past year, Sarah has interviewed a dozen Black journalists living and working in South Jersey and conducted ten community town halls to help examine how traditional and nontraditional media serve South Jersey’s Black communities. Her forthcoming research paper proposes solutions to advance media equity in the region.

What emerged from Sarah’s work was a clear need for more resources to elevate the skills and visibility of Black journalists in South Jersey, more information sharing and storytelling by and for Black communities, and more support for Black-led media ventures.

The next phase of the project will seek to support and elevate Black media makers specifically in Camden, Gloucester and Burlington counties — including those who identify as journalists and those who do not — and connect them with resources, funding and platform partners to share their work.

The goals are to amplify stories by and for the Black community in our three target counties, build trust and community connections through media making, and strengthen the networks between Black journalists, media and communities in South Jersey.

The Center will continue its partnership with PABJ to support a collective of South Jersey Black media makers in an effort to elevate their voices and visibility, and provide training and coaching as requested. (The Center recently helped double the number of PABJ members living in New Jersey as a first step!) Members will be able to request a fellowship to produce news and media that addresses information gaps with and for Black communities in South Jersey, and will be matched with various media partners to support dissemination of that work.

In 2022, the Center will work with partners to coordinate media co-creation workshops led by Black journalists targeting specific Black communities in Camden, Gloucester and Burlington Counties. These workshops will seek to recruit community members and Black journalists for conversation and action planning about local information needs, storytelling and information gaps.

To begin implementing these recommendations, the Center seeks a part-time Project Coordinator who will lead the South Jersey Information Equity Project’s second phase.

If you’re as excited about this work as we are, consider applying. We hope to kickstart this implementation phase in September, so please review the posting and apply ASAP. We estimate the job will average 10 hours a week over a year, with more hours being front-loaded in the beginning of the project.

To be considered, contact Cassandra Etienne via email at etiennec@montclair.edu and include the following items:

• A brief statement of interest in this project and the role.
• A brief overview of your academic and/or work background.
• Your resume/CV or a link to your updated LinkedIn page.

Additionally, if you have any questions about the project, want to be involved in some way, or are interested in supporting it with funding, please contact Cassandra.

Many thanks to our South Jersey Information Equity Project partners and to the Independence Public Media Foundation, and The Nicholson Foundation for their funding support.

Cassandra Etienne is the assistant director of programming and membership at the Center for Cooperative Media. She can be reached at etiennec@montclair.edu.

About the Center for Cooperative Media: The Center is a 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, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Democracy Fund, the New Jersey Local News Lab (a partnership of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Democracy Fund, and Community Foundation of New Jersey), and the Abrams Foundation. For more information, visit CenterforCooperativeMedia.org.