California Governor Gavin Newsom recently approved a $25 million state-funded fellowship program for the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. The school’s dean Geeta Anand, discussed the initiative on Twitter, saying, “Big news for journalism in the Golden State: Governor Gavin Newsom just signed a budget bill that includes $25 million to help Berkeley Journalism serve local journalism around the state.” She also noted that “So far as we know, it’s the largest infusion of state-level funds into local journalism ever (fact check please!)”
Big news for journalism in the Golden State: Governor Gavin Newsom just signed a budget bill that includes $25 million to help Berkeley Journalism serve local journalism around the state. 1/
— Geeta Anand (@GOAnand) September 9, 2022
School Chancellor Carol Christ applauded the program for improving Berkeley Journalism’s status in higher education. She stated, “This program will be extraordinarily beneficial for the journalism students we educate and the people of California, who we serve. The greater good is advanced when we can rely on credible, local news coverage that reflects the needs and concerns of all communities. At the same time, providing equitable access to a career in journalism will help ensure our students can thrive professionally, without regard for their origins or identities.”
According to Fox News, the fellowship program will begin in 2023 and will provide $50,000 in yearly stipends to up to 40 fellows each year for at least three years. Additionally, the program will highlight a “diverse” class of new journalists from “underrepresented communities.”
The initiative comes as many Americans report losing trust in the media. A Gallup poll from July revealed that just 16% of Americans have a “great deal or quite a lot” of faith in newspapers in 2022, a 5% decline from the results of 2021, the lowest figure since Gallup started asking people their attitudes of newspapers in 1973. Only 11% of those surveyed in the United States said they had “a great deal or quite a lot” of confidence in the television news industry, marking a new record low.
