Connecticut Community Foundations Collaborate to Support New Journalism Series on Impact of State Fiscal Crisis

CT Mirror Series will focus on fiscal crisis' impact on nonprofit sector and wealth disparities in Connecticut

New Haven, CT (March 12, 2018) - A collaboration of six Connecticut community foundations has awarded a $100,000 grant to the Connecticut Mirror to support two journalism series and statewide community conversations. This effort will explore the long-term impact of Connecticut's fiscal crisis on the nonprofit sector and the impact of wealth disparities in Connecticut.

The participating community foundations represent regions throughout the state including the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven , the Fairfield County's Community Foundation, the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut, Connecticut Community Foundation (serving Greater Waterbury and the Litchfield Hills), and the Main Street Community Foundation (Bristol).

"Journalism starts the conversations that lead to systems change and to the solutions to public policy challenges," according to Bruce Putterman, Publisher of The Connecticut Mirror. "The Connecticut Mirror applauds the state's leading community foundations for coming together to start statewide conversations about statewide issues from a collaborative, statewide perspective."

Connecticut's ongoing struggle to balance the state budget has created significant uncertainty among residents and organizations that rely on state support. The collaborative funding for this project will support high-quality, nonpartisan journalism to better understand the short and long-term impact of fiscal decisions on nonprofits and residents, and the ripple effect on the future of Connecticut's economic health and prosperity.

The community foundations involved in the project are hopeful that it will result in more informed residents, more educated dialogue around key issues, increased levels of civic engagement and shared knowledge to inform the development of creative, realistic solutions to address the challenges and opportunities facing Connecticut.

"In this time when both the credibility and the business model of traditional media are under unprecedented strain, The Foundation recognizes that our long-standing support for nonprofit journalism has never been more important," says William W. Ginsberg, President & CEO of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. "With this grant and our support for local journalism as well, we are deepening our engagement in this area this year."

The project has three components: (1) Sponsorship for two journalism series: a five-part series exploring the long-term impact of Connecticut's fiscal crisis on the nonprofit sector and a two-three part series exploring the impact of wealth disparities in Connecticut; (2) Convening of two to three community conversations based on the fiscal crisis and wealth disparities series; and (3) General operating support for The Connecticut Mirror.

Stories in the wealth disparity series will begin in March 2018 and published periodically throughout the year. Reporting for the nonprofit sector series will begin the first quarter of 2018 and be published in the spring and summer.

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