LEXINGTON, Ky. — Press Forward Blue Grass, an initiative of Blue Grass Community Foundation, received a $125,000 grant from Press Forward as part of a $1.5 million national investment to help states develop public policy solutions that strengthen local news.

Kentucky is among eight states selected for the funding, joining Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. Press Forward is a national movement to reinvigorate local news and information as a cornerstone of democracy, operating through a network of local chapters nationwide.

The Kentucky grant will support the Press Forward Blue Grass Policy Task Force, a coalition that includes journalists, publishers, civic leaders, policy experts, community foundations and advocates working to advance policy solutions for local news. The task force is examining sustainable funding models, public awareness campaigns, workforce development and civic information initiatives at a time when Kentucky communities face major policy decisions around artificial intelligence, energy infrastructure, land use and economic development.

"Local news is community infrastructure," said Melissa Newman, Ed.D., executive director of Press Forward Blue Grass. "When local news organizations disappear, communities lose an essential civic asset. If communities are expected to live with the consequences of major decisions, they should have access to the reporting necessary to participate in them."

The grant builds on existing Press Forward Blue Grass initiatives, including a journalism fellowship with Report for America, newsroom innovation grants, youth correspondent programs and place-based journalism across Kentucky's 16-county footprint. Press Forward has invested more than $400 million through a network of more than 40 place-based chapters since its founding.