95 Local Organizations and Leaders Call on New Jersey Lawmakers to Restore $2.5 Million to Fund the State's Civic Information Consortium

TRENTON — On Wednesday, a diverse coalition of 95 New Jersey community leaders, media organizations and advocates have signed on to an open letter to the state’s political leadership that urges lawmakers to restore $2.5 million in funding for the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium (NJCIC). The NJCIC is a first-of-its-kind initiative that state lawmakers created in 2018 to provide resources for trustworthy, community-based news-and-information projects.

“Local news is critical to ensure the safety, wellbeing, and empowerment of New Jerseyans,” reads the open letter, which Free Press Action and the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium coordinated. “It keeps residents informed, guaranteeing their access to the information they need to be educated on the issues that impact their daily lives and meaningfully engage with their communities.”

Read the letter. 

Since its implementation in 2021, the NJCIC has distributed more than $12.5 million to local-media outlets, including innovative, public-interest newsrooms and projects that touch every corner of the state. Over the years the consortium has gained a national reputation as a bold, new concept for local journalism and civic engagement while creating a funding model for other states to follow.

“Without sustained investment in NJCIC, the state risks losing an essential component of the civic infrastructure that keeps our residents informed, connected, and engaged,” reads the letter, which was signed by representatives of The Jersey Vindicator and Planet Princeton, the League of Women Voters of New Jersey, New Jersey Urban News, the NJ State House News Service, the New Jersey Working Families Alliance, Rebuild Local News and the Tow Center for Digital Journalism, among many others. 

The signers call on New Jersey elected officials and Gov. Sherrill’s office to restore a minimum of $2.5 million in funding for the NJCIC in the FY27 budget. 

“The New Jersey Civic Information Consortium was created through a grassroots effort to make sure that residents across the state have access to trustworthy news and information,” said Mike Rispoli, Free Press Action’s senior director of journalism and civic information. “Since its inception, the consortium has greatly benefited communities across the Garden State by investing public funds in news-and-information projects that improve civic life. It’s thanks to the consortium’s good work that civic leaders and residents rallied to ensure its future success, sharing research and personal stories about how this historic initiative is making a real difference in the lives of everyday New Jerseyans. Restoring funding should be a must for any lawmaker wanting to better serve their constituents.”

“New Jersey set the standard for the nation by creating the first-ever Civic Information Consortium, and today NJCIC is recognized as a national model for supporting local news. Recent polling shows that 65 percent of New Jerseyans — across all political parties — want better access to local news,” said Lisa Sahulka, executive director of the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium. “Eliminating funding would mean stepping back from the national leadership role New Jersey worked so hard to build, at a time when reliable, local information is more essential than ever for public safety, education, elections, and community life. The New Jersey Civic Information Consortium is more than an investment in journalism — it’s an investment in our democracy, our communities, and our future.”

Background:
Gov. Sherrill’s proposed FY 2027 budget zeroed out funding for the NJCIC, but a groundswell of support from state civic leaders and residents is swaying a growing number of policymakers to include funding as they consider the budget in June. Free Press Action led the campaign to pass the legislation creating the nonprofit following more than two years of community input and engagement. These listening sessions underscored ways to ensure the consortium responds to the needs of New Jersey residents and protects the independence of the journalism it funds. The subsequent state funding has helped meet the information needs of residents around New Jersey, especially in underserved communities, low-income communities and communities of color.

According to an April Rutgers-Eagleton Poll of New Jersey residents, large majorities of both state Democrats and Republicans support a trustworthy and robust local-news ecosystem and would like to receive more news about their communities.