FIU’s Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media receives grant to launch Caplin Initiative for Civic Journalism

FIU's Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media has won a $100,000 grant from Press Forward South Florida to create the Caplin Initiative for Civic Journalism, a program that will place current students in local publications to help them gain real-world experience. As an added benefit, the students will also be receiving a stipend for the work they do.

The grant is among $760,000 awarded to more than a dozen local newsrooms and media partnerships in Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.

The Caplin Initiative for Civic Journalism will collaborate with The Biscayne Times, el Toque, Coconut Grove Spotlight, The Miami Times and other local outlets. The initiative will help the news organizations address coverage challenges and better serve communities by engaging students as reporters. 

“This grant represents another important piece of the larger vision for the Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media,” said Brian Schriner, dean of the College of Communication, Architecture + The Arts. “Through the Caplin Initiative for Civic Journalism, our students will learn by doing, working alongside local news organizations to provide the trusted, relevant information our communities need. That is the Caplin way: preparing ethical, innovative journalists while using the power of journalism to strengthen civic life and serve South Florida.”

“We are humbled to receive this gift that will allow our Caplin students and faculty to partner with and help strengthen the local news ecosystem at such a critical moment,” said Manny García, the inaugural Knight Foundation executive director of FIU’s Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media. “This is a real win-win for our community. Our Caplin School is strongly positioned to be a support network for local newsrooms to tell important stories in English and Spanish.”

Rebecca Fishman Lipsey, president and CEO of The Miami Foundation, emphasizes the importance of local journalism. "Local news boosts civic engagement, it decreases polarization and is a powerful antidote to misinformation. And in times of crisis, it is a community lifeline. We need local news to not just survive, but to thrive.”

“These newsroom grants are an investment in the people who show up every day to keep our communities connected, informed and engaged,” said Tere Figueras Negrete, senior director of Press Forward South Florida and an FIU School of Journalism alumna. “Strong communities need strong local journalism.”

The grant to Caplin will directly benefit students, who will have opportunities to gain hands-on experience. Recent graduate Brianna Duardo capitalized on just such a chance. She worked with the nonprofit Florida Trib as an undergraduate.

“I learned what it was like to work closely with such a passionate group of editors to deliver important news to local communities,” said Duardo of her time there as a student. Today she serves as a freelancer for the organization, having covered recent school board primary elections and now the general school board races.

The $100,000 grant is a testament to the impact of the work being done by students and faculty at the Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media. Through the Caplin Initiative for Civic Journalism, that work will extend beyond the classroom, creating new opportunities for students to contribute to local journalism while helping news organizations strengthen the communities they serve.

Press Forward South Florida also recognized the following local recipients:

• WLRN Public Media: $100,000 to establish a central audio production hub supporting a network of local news organizations.
• Hy-Lo News and The Miami Times: $75,000 for collaborative coverage of Overtown, Liberty City, Miami Gardens and Opa-locka.
• The Florida Trib: $75,000 for coverage of the Florida Legislature’s impact on South Florida through data tools, training and collaboration.
• South Florida Sun Sentinel and Florida Bulldog: $75,000 for investigative projects examining Broward’s public health systems.
• Black Owned Media Alliance (BOMA): $75,000 for strategic planning and staffing to jointly develop, distribute and amplify news.