Amplify Utah Named a Press Forward Grant Recipient

The Department of Communication at the University of Utah is excited to announce that Amplify Utah — a non-profit newsroom founded by Clinical Associate Professor Marcie Young Cancio — was recently named a Press Forward grant recipient. Amplify Utah joins 204 other small news outlets in receiving a share of $20 million to close persistent coverage gaps, thanks to funding from Press Forward, the nationwide movement to strengthen communities by reinvigorating local news.

Amplify Utah was recognized for its work empowering emerging journalists though providing resources, opportunities, and mentorship needed to make a meaningful impact. They join an inaugural, historic cohort of local newsrooms across the country that are filling critical information gaps and working in service of our communities.

“This grant will be tremendously beneficial for Communication and Humanities students as well as students across campus,” said Avery Holton, chair of the Department of Communication. “When projects like Amplify Utah receive this level of support, it creates incredible engaged-learning opportunities that ripple out into our broader communities, contributing to positive societal impact.”

Since 2020, Amplify Utah has supported and facilitated dynamic journalistic storytelling to celebrate many points of view through student journalism. By partnering with traditional media, they cultivated an environment that encourages stories (more than 125 so far) to be shared widely for our communities to read, hear, watch, and engage. A review panel of national foundation and journalism leaders read about how this type of storytelling — from print to video and digital to podcasting — is making a difference. Due to the impact of the work, the panel awarded Amplify Utah $100,000 in funding to be used over the next two years to support local student journalists.

"This is huge for a small non-profit like ours," said Young Cancio. "We're fueled by a volunteer board, passionate supporters of local news, and the ambitious work of students across the state, and this grant will allow us to do even more meaningful work in amplifying often unheard voices."

Over the last year, Amplify Utah has expanded to engage additional local media and community partners and journalism programs at five of the state’s eight public universities and colleges. They are proud, Young Cancio said, to be part of a bright mosaic of independent, non-partisan sources reimagining local news across America. This is just the start for this impactful organization, and the Communication Department looks forward to continuing its partnership with Amplify Utah.

For more details, visit: https://www.pressforward.news/grantees/.