California’s latest budget has allocated $15 million to extend the California Local News Fellowship, a program managed by the UC Berkeley School of Journalism. This funding will support dozens of two-year reporting and editing positions in newsrooms across the state.

The extension comes as federal funding for PBS and NPR stations faces significant cuts. Congress and the White House recently reduced support, resulting in a $1.1 billion shortfall for public media budgets nationwide. Stations like KEET in Eureka are expected to lose nearly half their funding, which will especially affect rural communities.

While the state fellowship cannot replace lost federal funds, program leaders say California’s investment will help ensure important local stories continue to be reported. Since its launch in 2023, the fellowship has placed over 70 full-time reporters with various outlets throughout California, including Nguoi Viêt in Santa Ana, North State Public Radio in Chico, and SJV Water in the Central Valley. Another 38 fellows are set to begin this fall as the first group completes its term.

State Senator Catherine Blakespear and Assemblymember Marc Berman supported the new funding, which will pay salaries and benefits for a fourth cohort of reporting fellows starting in 2026. The funds will also provide new editing positions and ongoing training through organizations such as the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.

A report from Northwestern University found that California has lost almost two-thirds of its journalists over the past two decades due to shifts in advertising revenue toward major tech companies like Google and Facebook (https://localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu/posts/2023/06/28/local-news-decline-accelerates.html). This decline has created an information gap for residents.

“Our democracy and the cohesion of our communities depend on fact-based reporting. The state’s historic commitment signals that journalism is a precious public resource,” said Elena Conis, interim dean of UC Berkeley Journalism.

To highlight the impact of these fellowships, UC Berkeley News shared three stories produced by fellows:

Tarini Mehta reported on education issues in Napa County for The Press Democrat. Her work explored economic segregation between Napa’s two public high schools and covered debates over LGBTQ+ curriculum policies at Howell Mountain School District meetings that might have otherwise gone unreported.

“It’s only through this program and the stability that it offers that I was able to cover a story like that,” Mehta said.

Mehta previously worked as a reporter in India before earning her master’s degree from Berkeley’s journalism school. She credits her training there with shaping her approach: “Every single story I do now, I do from an accountability angle,” she said. “It’s just completely changed the way I think.”

Semantha Raquel Norris covers northeast San Fernando Valley for San FernandoSun/El Sol. Drawing on her personal background navigating Los Angeles’ diverse communities, Norris broke stories such as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid affecting both a journalist and a local tamale vendor before larger outlets picked up on it.

“We were the only ones with local connections to actually report on that,” Norris said. “When we don’t have people on the ground within these communities …  it does become harder to tell the stories of the people who are being affected and to follow them and to put pressure on government and on elected officials.”

Norris also investigated silicosis among stone fabrication workers—a disease with high mortality rates among young workers—by building trust within immigrant communities reluctant to speak out due to concerns about immigration status.

KPBS reporter Kori Suzuki covered conservation efforts around burrowing owls in Imperial Valley—a region providing much of America’s winter produce but receiving little media attention compared to San Diego (https://www.kpbs.org/news/environment/2024/03/14/california-considers-endangered-status-for-burrowing-owls-as-imperial-valley-population-dwindles). Suzuki learned about dwindling owl populations from community contacts during his fellowship; he noted how designating owls as threatened could create conflicts between wildlife protection, water conservation, and renewable energy projects.

Because KPBS faces a $4.3 million reduction—about 12% of its budget—due to federal cuts (https://current.org/2024/07/public-media-braces-for-loss-of-federal-funding-after-biden-signs-budget-cuts-into-law), Suzuki emphasized how vital stable employment through programs like this fellowship can be: “It underscores what an incredible opportunity it’s been to know that for two years, I have a job, I have a salary [and] I have healthcare.”