California Local News Fellowship

What California Local News Fellowship does

The California Local News Fellowship (CLNF) is a state-funded, non-profit journalism fellowship program operated by UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. Founded in 2023 and billed as the largest publicly-funded journalism fellowship in the nation, it places approximately 75 early-career journalists in two-year, full-time reporting positions across roughly 70 California newsrooms annually, targeting underserved communities and addressing a documented local news crisis (a 2025 Northwestern Medill study cited 25% of California publications ceasing operations between 2004-2019, four counties lacking local newspapers, and 15 counties with only one). The program recruits through a competitive annual application cycle and matches fellows to host newsrooms spanning for-profit (San Francisco Chronicle, Fresno Bee), nonprofit (CalMatters, KPBS, EdSource), public media, and community/ethnic outlets (Black Voice News, La Opinión).

The core product is a placement and training platform, not a technology product: fellows receive salaries of $60,000-$65,000 for reporting roles or $80,000 for editing roles, full UC Berkeley benefits, formal mentoring, specialized sub-cohorts in audio, video, data, and climate, and access to UC research databases. Editorial content is distributed through a partnership with Distributed Media Lab's dml.market platform via curated embeddable collections (California Local, Healthcare, Immigration topics), supported by a Google News Initiative-funded digital toolkit, and via a Substack newsletter. Adjacent UC Berkeley-hosted fellowships under the same parent include the Ferriss Psychedelic Journalism Fellowship, Mycoskie Psychedelic Documentary Fellowship, UC Berkeley-11th Hour Food and Farming Journalism Fellowship, and Dorothea Lange Photography Fellowship, broadening the institutional footprint beyond CLNF specifically.

The revenue model is dominated by California state government appropriations totaling approximately $55 million across three funding cycles ($25M in 2023, $15M in 2025, $15M in 2026), with supplemental funding from private foundation grants (Schmidt Family Foundation's 11th Hour Project), corporate partnerships (Google News Initiative), public-private collaborations (California Health Care Foundation for five health fellowships in 2026), and nominal annual fees of $5,000-$25,000 from host newsrooms based on FTE size. Fellows are classified as UC Berkeley academic personnel represented by UAW Local 5810. Program operations are managed by a lean staff of approximately 8 employees, led by Director Monica Campbell, with strategic cohort support from managers including Rebecca Martin and Katharine Mieszkowski.

Name

California Local News Fellowship

Legal name

California Local News Fellowship

Website

https://fellowships.journalism.berkeley.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The California Local News Fellowship is a state-funded UC Berkeley program that places ~75 early-career journalists in two-year roles across ~70 California newsrooms, addressing the state's local news crisis via training, mentorship, and content distribution partnerships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Journalism Fellowship Services

NAICS

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYMPAJADAF

Investigative & Nonprofit News Organizations

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Publishing (Books, News, Magazines)/News Publishing (Newspapers, Digital Newsrooms, Wire Services)

SECONDARYMPAJADAB

Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital)

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Publishing (Books, News, Magazines)/News Publishing (Newspapers, Digital Newsrooms, Wire Services)

Keywords

• Journalism fellowship programs
• Local news reporting
• Newsroom partnerships
• Investigative journalism grants
• Public interest media

Headquarters

HQ city

Berkeley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel

Revenue model

1. State Government Funding: Primary funding from California state budget allocation. In 2025, California approved $15 million for fellowships and newsroom leadership training. In 2026, an additional $15 million investment was approved for reporting and editing fellowships.
2. Private Foundation Grants: The 11th Hour Project (program of The Schmidt Family Foundation) provided funding support for the Food and Farming Journalism Fellowship program.
3. Corporate Partnerships: Google News Initiative provides support for the CLNF Collections digital toolkit partnership with Distributed Media Lab.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The California Local News Fellowship is a multi-year, state-funded initiative that places up to 40 early-career journalism fellows annually in California newsrooms for two-year, full-time reporting positions, with priority given to underserved communities. The program matches fellows with for-profit, nonprofit, public media, and community/ethnic newsrooms, while fellows receive salaries ($60K–$65K for reporters, $80K for editors), benefits, training, mentoring, and access to UC Berkeley resources. Additional specialized fellowships span Food and Farming Journalism, Psychedelic Journalism, Psychedelic Documentary, and the Dorothea Lange Photography Fellowship, plus the CLNF Collections Digital Toolkit for story distribution.

Product overview

The California Local News Fellowship operates a portfolio of journalism fellowship programs at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. The core offering is the California Local News Fellowship, a state-funded initiative placing early-career journalists in California newsrooms for two-year terms. Additional specialized fellowships include the Psychedelic Documentary Fellowship (grants for filmmakers), Psychedelic Journalism Fellowship (reporting grants for print/audio journalists), Food and Farming Journalism Fellowship, and Dorothea Lange Photography Fellowship. The program also includes the CLNF Collections Digital Toolkit for story distribution and a new Editing Fellowship pilot for training newsroom editors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• California Local News Fellowship (Reporting Fellows) A two-year, full-time reporting fellowship placing up to 40 early-career journalists annually into California newsrooms (for-profit, nonprofit, public media, and community/ethnic media), with priority on underserved communities. Fellows receive salaries of $60K–$65K plus full UC benefits, training, mentoring, and UC Berkeley research database access.
• Editing Fellowship One-year editing fellowship pilot in partnership with the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, placing five editing fellows in California newsrooms with an $80,000 starting salary and full benefits to train the next generation of editors.
• CLNF Collections Digital Toolkit

Quantifiable outcome

• 89.5% of fellows report the fellowship helped them grow as a journalist
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Distributed Media LabcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to deliver fellows' reporting directly to participating newsrooms. Distributed Media Lab's platform (dml.market) enables publishers to feature timely, high-interest stories via curated collections. This initiative supports content sharing across the network, expanding opportunities to amplify impactful reporting from California Local News Fellows.
• Google News InitiativesupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerProvides support for the CLNF Collections digital toolkit, which enables participating publishers to easily embed curated news collections on their websites. The collections include California Local, Healthcare, and Immigration topics.
• Maynard Institute for Journalism EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for the editing fellowship pilot program. Maynard Institute provides training on newsroom leadership and people management to editing fellows. This addresses the gap in editorial training for emerging journalism professionals.
• Impact ArchitectssupportingOthersIndependent evaluators engaged to conduct comprehensive annual surveys and produce case studies evaluating the program's impact on newsrooms, fellows, and communities served. Provides third-party validation of program outcomes.
• UC Berkeley Center for the Science of PsychedelicscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject sponsor for both the Ferriss Psychedelic Journalism Fellowship and Mycoskie Psychedelic Documentary Fellowship. Center provides academic framework and oversight for psychedelic-focused journalism and filmmaking programs.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Maynard Institute for Journalism Education: Maynard Institute trains journalists of color and is CLNF's official partner for the editing fellowship pilot, providing training on newsroom leadership. Its mission to diversify and professionalize journalism directly intersects with CLNF's talent development role.
• Reveal (Center for Investigative Reporting): Reveal is a nonprofit investigative newsroom producing public-interest journalism, with similar California roots. CLNF's Senior Cohort Manager previously worked at Reveal, and the organizations share talent and mission alignment around nonprofit investigative reporting.
• The GroundTruth Project: GroundTruth is a nonprofit newsroom and training organization that runs Report for America and other journalist-support programs. It overlaps directly with CLNF in the local-news fellowship space and represents a broader national nonprofit operating comparable talent-placement programs.
• Report for America: Report for America places early-career journalists in local newsrooms across the U.S. for multi-year terms, the closest direct analog to CLNF's fellowship placement model. Operated by the GroundTruth Project, it shares CLNF's mission of bolstering local news but operates nationally rather than within a single state.
• CalMatters: CalMatters is a California-focused nonprofit newsroom covering state policy and a CLNF newsroom partner that hosts fellows. It is the most directly comparable California nonprofit news outlet in scale and mission, making it a key beneficiary and operational peer.
• The 19th News: The 19th is a nonprofit newsroom that combines original reporting with a fellowship/training pipeline for journalists from underrepresented backgrounds. It is structurally comparable to CLNF's nonprofit, mission-driven news-and-talent-development model.

Broad incumbents

• ProPublica: ProPublica is the largest U.S. nonprofit investigative newsroom, with a similar nonprofit/public-interest journalism funding model but operating nationally at much greater scale and focusing on investigative rather than local reporting.
• Lenfest Institute for Journalism: Lenfest Institute is a major philanthropy and operator focused on local news sustainability, investing in and supporting newsrooms across multiple markets. It overlaps with CLNF in advancing local news economics but at a portfolio level rather than operating a single fellowship.
• Knight Foundation: Knight Foundation is the largest U.S. funder of local journalism and journalism education, funding numerous fellowships and news sustainability initiatives. It sits at the funder level above CLNF and is the most comparable broad incumbent supporting the same ecosystem.

Others

• Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE): IRE is the leading U.S. association for investigative journalists, providing training, conferences, and resources that complement CLNF's professional-development role. It is an ecosystem enabler rather than a direct operator of newsrooms or fellowships.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC Berkeley Journalism
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/california-local-news-fellowship
• Instagraminstagram.com/CALocalNewsFellows

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about California Local News Fellowship