Sun-Sentinel journalists Juan Ortega (director of content/local news) and Abigail Hasebroock (Palm Beach County reporter) speaking to MediaLab@FAU journalists. (Photo by Ilene Prusher)

Florida Atlantic University’s MediaLab@FAU has been awarded a $100,000 grant from Press Forward, a national initiative aimed at revitalizing local news and strengthening communities.

MediaLab@FAU, a community journalism initiative in the School of Communication and Multimedia Studies within the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, was launched in September 2023 by Ilene Prusher, senior instructor of multimedia journalism. It’s been estimated that MediaLab’s articles reached upward of 25 million people based on potential online exposure of its articles in its first year.

“This grant will help us expand our project and fill crucial gaps in local coverage,” said Prusher, digital director of MediaLab@FAU. “We’re engaging diverse students in developing advanced media skills while reporting valuable stories that our media partners often lack resources to cover.”

Since the lab’s inception, Prusher has led students to report and publish stories of wider interest throughout the South Florida region. More than 40% of these stories have been picked up by MediaLab@FAU’s main media partners: The Sun-Sentinel, The Palm Beach Post and WLRN News. As MediaLab’s reputation for high-quality, locally produced content has grown, other news outlets such as The Orlando Sentinel and the Boca Raton Tribune also have published MediaLab@FAU’s original reporting.

“MediaLab has allowed me to gain real-world experience as a journalist while still in school,” said Sage West, an FAU senior and MediaLab@FAU writer of multiple stories published in professional media outlets as part of the project. “We get the opportunity to meet with experienced journalists, cover real stories and work closely with our professor and peers. It has definitely been one of my most valuable college experiences.”

Press Forward is investing more than $500 million in local newsrooms, with the aim of closing gaps in journalism coverage, advancing public policies that expand access to local news, and scaling the infrastructure that the sector needs to thrive. When it launched just over a year ago, a coalition of 22 funders led by the MacArthur Foundation and Knight Foundation came together to pledge more than $500 million to revitalize local news. Now, there are 62 funders in the coalition, operating under the fiscal sponsorship of the Miami Foundation.

MediaLab will host an event marking its one-year anniversary near the end of October to celebrate its year of success.

“Guided by FAU journalism faculty members, MediaLab students have published outstanding coverage of environmental issues, immigration and health policy, and their insightful coverage can help strengthen knowledge of important issues in our local communities,” said Carol Bishop Mills, Ph.D., associate dean of faculty success in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters and lead author of the grant.

To read more about Press Forward, visit here. For more information about MediaLab@FAU, visit here or email iprusher@fau.edu.

-FAU-