* John Volk for the Medill Local News Initiative…

Forty Illinois local news entities operating 120 outlets are receiving $4 million in state tax credits under a new law designed to encourage the retention and hiring of journalists, according to documents released this week. […]

They span major legacy organizations, small community newspapers, digital start-ups and public broadcasters. Most of the funding went to organizations outside the Chicago metro area. Nonprofit outlets received 30% of the money. The vast majority of news organizations in Illinois are for-profit. […]

So far in Illinois, 61 entities have applied for funding with 49 of those approved. Five applicants had their applications denied and seven more applications remain under review. The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity did not immediately provide a response to written questions about who was denied and why.

* Gannett, which runs 11 daily papers in western and central Illinois, and Alden Global Capital, owner of the Chicago Tribune, didn’t make the list…

* Back to LNI…

The legislation attempted to cap the amount of funding to organizations backed by private funds like Gannett and Alden. One such company, Lee Enterprises, still managed to be the largest recipient of Illinois’ tax credits at $375,000 across applications it submitted for four newspapers in the state.

Earlier this summer, Illinois became the first state in the nation to distribute money directly to local news organizations for employing journalists. The Illinois law is the latest step in the growing movement of state and local governments using legislation to intervene in the local news crisis, even as the federal government clawed back $1.1 billion in funding for public broadcasting last month. Twenty-two states and municipalities have passed or are considering bills to support local news, according to Rebuild Local News. […]

Illinois’ legislation, passed in May 2024, makes available $25 million over five years for local news organizations that hire and retain journalists in the form of refundable tax credits. In its first year, $5 million is available in tax credits broken into two buckets, with $4 million earmarked for retaining journalists and the remaining $1 million for newsrooms that add new journalists. A little over $1 million remains available in 2025, with 78% of the credits for expanding newsrooms unclaimed.

The credits are distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis. To receive funding, outlets must apply and demonstrate eligibility based on certain criteria, including consistent publication of original local content and employment of journalists.

* Despite $1 million available to support hiring new reporters, most grant recipients focused on subsidizing their newsrooms rather than adding staff.…

* Related…

* AP | Abrupt Closure of Illinois-Based Newspaper Chain Leaves Dozens of Communities Without a News Source: Dozens of communities in the Midwest and West learned Thursday they had lost their newspapers after an Illinois-based publisher announced it would abruptly close because of financial problems. News Media Corp., which owns local newspapers across five states, said it will close 14 operations in Wyoming, seven in Illinois, five in Arizona, four in South Dakota and one in Nebraska.

* WTVO | Byron Allen Media sells WREX and 9 other stations to WIFR parent company, Gray Media: Byron Allen Media plans to sell 10 local TV stations, including WREX in Rockford, to Gray Media, which owns CBS affiliate WIFR. According to Variety, the deal is expected to close later this year, subject to regulatory approval. In a press release, Gray said it hopes to “strengthen the company’s presence in the seven other markets by creating new duopolies that would allow Gray to preserve and deepen public service to their communities with expanded local news, local weather, and local sports programming.”

* Crain’s | Illinois NPR and PBS stations see donations surge after federal funding blow: Chicago NPR affiliate WBEZ-FM/91.5 has raised $984,000 from 4,788 supporters since July 18, when the rescission package was approved, according to Victor Lim, vice president of marketing and communications at Chicago Public Media, which owns WBEZ. PBS member station WTVP-TV/Channel 47 in Peoria has raised $40,000 since mid-July and is expecting additional matching funds, according to Jenn Gordon, the station’s president and CEO.

* WaPo | Can NPR do without federal funding? Its CEO says she’s optimistic: NPR is perhaps better positioned for a new era without federal funding than PBS, which relies on taxpayers for about 15 percent of its annual budget. By contrast, NPR only gets about 1 percent. But many of its member stations, especially those in rural America, are far more dependent on federal funding, creating a ripple effect that Maher said greatly amplifies the cuts’ impact on the network itself. Maher, the bright-eyed 42-year-old CEO of NPR joined the public radio giant in March 2024 not from a local member station but rather as an outsider to the system: She was previously the chief executive of the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation, which oversees the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. But understanding — and working with those stations — is key to any NPR chief’s mission; and never more so than now.