The James B. McClatchy Foundation in Sacramento, California, has announced the launch of the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative, a $1 million effort initiative to preserve independent fact-based news outlets.

Introduced in the study Feasibility Report on Developing a Central Valley Journalism Collaborative (19 pages, PDF), the collaborative is a new operating model aimed at protecting, sustaining, and expanding newsroom jobs and coverage capacities; increasing the diversity of publications' leadership and reporting workforce to reflect the communities they cover; engaging the next generation of consumers and stakeholders; supporting local journalism ecosystem innovations; and expanding philanthropic investment in the Central Valley. To that end, the collaborative will take a variety of funding approaches, including grants and program-related investments to reset the economic relationship between funding and reporting by evolving the traditional platform for sustaining reporters — standalone news organizations, whether they are commercial or nonprofit.

The report cites multiple emerging programs that the collaborative intends to build on, including Microsoft's Journalism Initiative, which has adopted the Fresno Bee as one of its pilot communities. Through the program, Microsoft will work in partnership with community foundations to assist local newsrooms and help them use the latest tools and technologies to share stories in new ways, experiment with new revenue streams and funding models, and increase the overall capacity of the news ecosystem.

"Our research reveals an innovative path to keeping local news alive by collaborating with successful community partners who are sustaining and changing the news landscape in their own communities," said JBMF chief executive Priscilla Enriquez. "We believe that broader community investment and increased funder participation is the key to sustaining independent journalism in the valley and other communities. Our investment harnesses the power of Central Valley community partners for the long-term benefit of the entire valley, and ultimately California at large."