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Press Forward Rhode Island today rolled out its grantmaking strategy for strengthening local news and helping Rhode Island communities stay informed, connected and engaged.

Press Forward Rhode Island is a chapter of the national Press Forward network of funders working to expand resources for local news, and a collaborative effort of the Rhode Island Foundation and the van Beuren Charitable Foundation.

Research and community engagement, including focus groups with local journalists, interviews with more than 500 Rhode Islanders and targeted qualitative research conducted by Hart Research, drove the priority areas for investment. That community voice is central to Press Forward Rhode Island's strategy, elevating what Rhode Islanders themselves say their communities need to thrive and ensuring those needs are reflected in how and where resources are directed. For more information about the research, visit rifoundation.org/pressforward.

"Access to trustworthy, reliable local news is fundamental to civic health. It’s how communities stay informed, hold institutions accountable, and make decisions together, said David N. Cicilline, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation. “Press Forward Rhode Island is our commitment to ensuring that every Rhode Islander, in every corner of our state, has access to the information they need to fully participate in civic life."

“Local news is essential to strong, connected communities,” said Elizabeth Lynn, executive director of the van Beuren Charitable Foundation. “Collaboration among funders, newsrooms and partners will achieve impact no single funder could accomplish alone.”

The strategies focus on three areas where investment could make impact:

• Improving access to news and information: strengthening trusted information networks and addressing misinformation and disinformation.
• Addressing significant information gaps identified by research and engagement: expanding news and information in and with communities that are primarily rural, multilingual or historically disenfranchised.
• Increasing sustainability of news networks through innovation and collaboration. 

Grantmaking will be managed by the Rhode Island Foundation through its Community Priority Grants program, with the van Beuren Charitable Foundation jointly reviewing proposals and participating in grantmaking that aligns with its strategies and portfolios.

Grant eligibility has been expanded to include collaborations between for-profit and nonprofit media organizations where nonprofits are the lead applicants. The pre-application process opens June 22, with a deadline of July 16. Decisions are expected to be announced in December 2026.

The announcement comes as Press Forward chapters across the United States mark the first Local News Day. The nationwide initiative celebrates the essential role of trusted local news.

Locally, East Greenwich News, ecoRI News, Rhode Island Current, RINewsToday, the Hummel Report, The Providence Eye, the Valley Breeze and What’s Up Newport are among more than 1,000 newsrooms across the United States that are participating in the inaugural Local News Day.

"Reaching 1,000 participating newsrooms shows how much momentum is building around the idea that communities benefit when people start local," said Dale Anglin, executive director of Press Forward, a Local News Day sponsor. "Across the country, communities are stepping forward to celebrate the role local reporting plays in helping people.”