ADVOCATE FOR LOCAL JOURNALISM

Her accomplishments in the field have garnered accolades and opportunities. Paulette was named a Stanford University JSK Senior Journalism Fellow in 2022–23. She spent the academic year in the residential fellowship program at the esteemed university working on practical solutions to address the news industry’s long-standing neglect of underserved communities.

In 2022, Paulette also led the establishment of the IECF Journalism Innovation Hub + Fund to support local and regional journalism and media and build the pipeline of talent for the sector.

“We’re creating a journalism hub that will eventually stand on its own and separate from the fund,” she says by way of explaining the name. “It’s an ecosystem strategy to support the building of a local news ecosystem here in the region.”

National and international stories tend to dominate the news cycle, often squeezing out local stories and perspectives that are vital to informing communities. Shrinking newsroom budgets have created “news deserts” where communities lack access to important local news coverage on matters that affect residents’ daily lives.

The Journalism Innovation Hub + Fund seeks to change that. “We’re interested in taking the Vital Conditions Framework that IECF is championing here in the region and bringing together institutions and community-based organizations so we’re all looking at the same data,” Paulette explains. “At the center of that framework is belonging and civic muscle, which, for me, is where journalism lives.”

The hope is the Fund will help shape a new narrative for the region using the language of the Vital Conditions Framework. “That data is what we want to lift up through the Hub part in the way that we report and what we’re reporting on,” Paulette continues. “The Fund becomes the driver supporting the work of the Hub.”

She concedes that news stories sometime fail to engage readers but asserts community engagement as the solution — hearing what communities are working on and figuring out ways to best tell their stories. “The other piece is focusing on solutions and lifting them up — here’s what’s happening and who’s doing what work to change some of the negative trends we’re seeing.”

Recently the IE Journalism Innovation Hub + Fund announced it has become one of the first three funds in California designated as an affiliate of Press Forward, a national coalition investing more than $500 million over five years to revitalize local news and its dissemination. The catalyst grant that accompanies designation will allow IECF to hire a development consultant to build up the Fund.

For Paulette, one of the highlights of the Stanford University fellowship program was the opportunity to create the California Journalism Summit: Igniting Community Philanthropy presented by JSK Fellowships in November 2023. “The Stanford Summit really made clear to me the kind of structure we need here in the state.”

Now that Press Forward is prepared to make investments in California, the plan is to build out the superstructure using community foundations as funding conduits and partners within respective regions. The IE Journalism Innovation Hub + Fund is part of a network of chapters across the country where funders bring new donors and foundations together to expand resources for local news.

“The plan is to create a cohort model where we can all work together and learn from each other,” Paulette says. Well recognized for her efforts to change the story line in communities affected by “news deserts,” Paulette’s accomplishments and passion for journalism continue to inspire change the Inland Empire.

Photo of Paulette Brown-Hinds, PHD by Albert Angelo