Expanding Impact for Local Journalism Across California

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Palo Alto & Berkeley, California, March 2025. We are pleased to announce a new collaboration between UC Berkeley Journalism’s California Local News Fellowship program and Distributed Media Lab, with support from the Google News Initiative.

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The California Local News Fellowship program will leverage Distributed Media Lab’s platform to broaden the distribution of stories reported by fellows placed in over 70 local news organizations throughout California.

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Stories reported by fellows and published by participating local news organizations will be curated into topical feeds by program staff at UC Berkeley Journalism. These feeds will distribute the stories through “collections” powered by Distributed Media Lab. Collections offer a new consumer experience that can be embedded on local news websites, providing local audiences with fresh and expansive coverage without requiring editorial or operational effort from the hosting news organizations.

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Initial topical collections will include:

1. Community Picks: A California roundup.
2. Environment: Stories ranging from climate, to wildfires, disaster preparedness, flooding, and environmental justice.
3. The Stakes: Reporting on the impact of Trump Administration executive orders and other actions on California.

Additional collections, featuring more topics or regional coverage, will be developed as the project evolves.

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Participating local news outlets can obtain the collection embed code from the Distributed Media Lab Marketplace by navigating to the California section and selecting one or more collections from the list. The Fellowship program staff and Distributed Media Lab will also host information sessions and provide technical implementation support.

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“With Fellows placed in local newsrooms across the state, we are committed to ensuring their reporting has a broad impact,” says Christa Scharferberg, the Fellowship Project Director. “Collaborating with DML to develop new distribution channels for reporting by our fellows is crucial to meeting our mission to provide essential local reporting to communities throughout California.”

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Distributed Media Lab (DML), a startup technology company, works with local-to-global media organizations and commercial brands to develop platforms and products that power new distribution and revenue streams. “We are excited to work with UC Berkeley Journalism to bring the fellowship program’s journalism to a broader statewide audience,” says David Gehring, CEO of Distributed Media Lab. “We believe the future of local news is collaborative. Economic sustainability will require new partnerships between local media organizations that may have historically competed. It is an honor to work with UC Berkeley Journalism on this California state-sponsored program, with support from the Google News Initiative, as we navigate these changes in the market together.”

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This project is supported by the Google News Initiative, which collaborates with publishers and journalists to combat misinformation, share resources, and build a diverse and innovative news ecosystem.

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About Distributed Media Lab

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Distributed Media Lab is a content distribution and monetization technology platform for publishers and brands. DML’s mission is to build technologies that power new media business models that align with the architecture and economics of the open web. distributedmedialab.com

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About Google News Initiative

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In collaboration with editors and journalists worldwide, the Google News Initiative (GNI) strives to foster a more sustainable, diverse, and innovative news landscape. Through a comprehensive suite of programs, digital tools, training, and resources, the GNI empowers journalistic endeavors, enabling journalists to effectively discover, verify, and narrate compelling stories while upholding the highest standards of quality journalism. newsinitiative.withgoogle.com

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