California Civic Media Program (via California Civic Media Act)

California Civic Media Program (via California Civic Media Act) is sponsored by State of California (Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development - GO-Biz) and Google. This public-private partnership aims to support local news organizations via grants.

California Civic Media Program | California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development California Civic Media Program The California Civic Media Program is a public-private partnership, equally funded by the State of California and Google, to support the work of California’s journalists and strengthen community engagement statewide.

The program is guided by regular convenings of the Civic Media Program Advisory Board, and the application process is independently administered. Program Application Website The California Civic Media Program website is now live, where you can learn about the program’s guidelines, check your eligibility, pre-register your account, and apply once the application portal opens Monday, July 6, 2026.

The application period closes Friday, August 21, 2026, and awards will be announced Fall 2026. The Civic Media Program Advisory Board is comprised of nine California news industry leaders who will regularly convene throughout 2026 to inform the approach and guidelines of the program.

President of the Latino Media Collaborative Latino Media Collaborative Appointment Associate Director of Policy & Advocacy at LION Publishers LION Publishers Appointment Publisher at Monterey County Weekly California News Publishers Association Appointment Co-Director of American Community Media American Community Media Appointment President of the Media Guild of the West & Journalist at SCNG Media Guild of the West Appointment General Counsel at the Los Angeles Times California News Publishers Association Appointment President and CEO of the Stanislaus Community Foundation Head of Journalism, California State University, Los Angeles Executive Director of California Black Media California Black Media Appointment Public Meetings and Resources: Advisory Board meetings will be accessible to the public.

Meetings and related resources will be posted below in advance.

Civic Media Program Advisory Board Notice Agenda 02-20-26 Civic Media Program Advisory Board Notice Agenda 04-03-26 Civic Media Program Advisory Board Notice Agenda 05-22-26 June 2026 : Program Guidelines Released and Application Website Launched July 6, 2026 : Application Window Opens August 21, 2026 : Application Window Closes Fall 2026 : Awards Announced Please continue to check this page for updates, as more details regarding the program timeline will be added throughout the year.

How was the advisory board selected and when will they meet? The advisory board members were selected from a list of news industry organizations predesignated in statute , with two at-large seats chosen by GO-Biz. The advisory board meetings will be publicly noticed and accessible to the public.

How does the program work and what kinds of organizations qualify for the program? Guidance on the program, qualifications, and application process can be found on the program website . Who is the third-party administrator for the state funds and how was the organization selected?

Who is the third-party administrator for the private funds? Google has selected Journalism Funding Partners (JFP) as their third-party administrator. JFP is a national grant making organization with a history of managing multimillion-dollar news and local journalism initiatives.

They will work alongside the James B. McClatchy Foundation to distribute private funds in accordance with the state funds, ensuring there will be a unified application and award process. For more information about JFP, please visit their website .

For any questions regarding board meetings and materials, please email GO-Biz staff at CACivicMedia@gobiz. ca. gov .

For all other questions regarding the application process, please email info@cacivicmedia. org .

Cannabis Equity Grants for Local Jurisdictions California Civic Media Program California Community Reinvestment Grants California Competes Tax Credit California Film and TV Tax Credit California State Trade Expansion Program Regional Investment Initiative Statewide Disaster Response Tool President of the Latino Media Collaborative Arturo Carmona serves as the Managing Partner of Tzunu Strategies and heads the Latino Media Collaborative.

He has appeared in in media outlets such as MSNBC, ABC, CNN, Time Magazine, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Univision, Telemundo, USA Today, NPR, La Opinion, and many others. Hispanic Magazine honored him with the Hispanic Achievement Award.

He is the current Sr. Strategy Advisor to ImpreMedia and served as a Digital Media and Strategic Communications Advisor to the Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador for President campaign (Mexico) and the Deputy Political Director for the Bernie Sanders for President campaign. He was the Executive Director of Presente. org and as the founding Executive Director of the Council of Mexican Federations.

This will close in 0 seconds Associate Director of Policy & Advocacy at LION Publishers Chuck Corra designs and leads advocacy efforts on behalf of local independent online news businesses at LION Publishers, helping drive policy outcomes at the state and national levels across the United States. Chuck’s professional background spans public affairs, issue advocacy, strategic research, and legal fields.

Most recently, he advised renewable energy developers on navigating community support for deploying wind and solar energy in rural communities. Chuck graduated with honors from Michigan State University College of Law, and currently lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

This will close in 0 seconds Publisher of the San Fernando Valley Sun & El Sol Newspapers Martha Diaz Aszkenazy was born in the San Fernando Valley and raised in the city of San Fernando where she headquartered the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol newspaper after purchasing it over 24 years ago.

She grew up in San Fernando attending local schools before enrolling at Loyola Marymount University where she received her bachelor’s in business administration.

Volunteering and giving back to her community is very important to Martha and throughout the years she has served on numerous boards and commissions, including as Treasurer for the California News Publishers Association, Chair of the National Newspapers Association, and a member of the Latino Media Collaborative.

This will close in 0 seconds Co-Director of American Community Media Julian Travis Do is the Co-director of American Community Media, California’s largest coalition of 300+ ethnic media outlets, where he leads initiatives focused on long-term sustainability of local journalism, including editorial and digital media capacity development.

With extensive experience in cross-sector coalition building, Julian coordinates efforts among more than 130 community-based organizations to address media equity and the systemic challenges facing local news.

He has played a pivotal role in major legislative and industry milestones, including advocacy for multiple media sustainability legislative bills and the coordination of historic multi-year agreements to support the local news ecosystem. His work also includes managing infrastructure upgrades for ethnic and community media markets to ensure state resources effectively reach prioritized populations.

Julian currently serves on the Advisory Board for the Local News Fellowship program at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

This will close in 0 seconds Sean Emery, President of the Media Guild of the West & Journalist at SCNG Sean Emery is president of Media Guild of the West, a local of The NewsGuild-CWA that represents hundreds of journalists and media workers at the Los Angeles Times, the Desert Sun, the Southern California News Group, and other news outlets across California, Arizona and Texas.

Sean is also a working journalist who has written for the Orange County Register since 2006 and currently covers courts, crime and public safety for the Register and other papers in the Southern California News Group.

This will close in 0 seconds General Counsel at the Los Angeles Times This will close in 0 seconds President and CEO of the Stanislaus Community Foundation Marian Kaanon is the President & CEO of Stanislaus Community Foundation. A first-generation Assyrian American, Marian was born in Iraq. She immigrated with her family to Canada at age 7, and then the U.S. as a high school student.

After graduating from UC Davis, Marian began a career that spanned broadcast journalism, public affairs and nonprofit management. Marian joined Stanislaus Community Foundation as CEO in late 2012. Stanislaus Community Foundation is a place-based funder that provides grants and scholarships to community organizations in Stanislaus County.

To date, the organization has invested over $63 million in local nonprofits. During Marian’s tenure, Stanislaus Community Foundation has quadrupled its assets under management and tripled its grantmaking, supporting programs in education, economic opportunity and civic engagement.

Coming out of the pandemic, Stanislaus Community Foundation launched Stanislaus 2030, an inclusive economic development sprint focused on creating quality jobs, which secured over $20M in state and federal funds in the local region. She currently chairs the Board of Directors for the League of California Community Foundations.

This will close in 0 seconds Head of Journalism, California State University, Los Angeles Julie Patel Liss is the head of journalism and an associate professor at California State University, Los Angeles.

She conducts investigative reporting projects with students for local news outlets and established the university's community news outlet, which reports on under-covered neighborhoods in East and South Los Angeles where Cal State LA students come from. Julie worked as an investigative reporter at nonprofit news outlets such as the Center for Public Integrity and D. C.

’s National Public Radio affiliate, and as a reporter at the South Florida Sun Sentinel and San Jose Mercury News. Her beats over the years have included education, race and demographics, utilities, insurance and federal politics. Her coverage has earned over 15 awards and honors.

Julie is a proud alumna of the University of Chicago, Stanford University and AmeriCorps' City Year program. She volunteers on several local and statewide boards, including the California College Media Association and the Asian American Journalists Association, Los Angeles. Julie was born in India, raised in Chicago and lives with her husband, also a journalist, and their two children in Long Beach.

In her free time, she enjoys reading, cooking, running, dancing and spending time outdoors with her family. This will close in 0 seconds Executive Director of California Black Media Regina Brown Wilson is a media entrepreneur and leading advocate for African American–owned news outlets in California.

Since 2012, she has served as Executive Director of California Black Media, leading a statewide network of more than 30 print, digital, radio, and streaming platforms serving Black communities and advancing their participation in California’s media economy.

Under her leadership, Wilson has led major public information campaigns on COVID-19 response, voter engagement, and emergency preparedness, partnering with state agencies to strengthen the role of ethnic, rural, and independent media in public outreach. She served on California’s 2020 Census Complete Count Committee and is a member of the African American Empowerment Council of California and the Sacramento NAACP.

She serves as co-chair of the Minority-Owned Small Business Task Force, chair of the Black Women’s Collective Empowerment Council, and on the UC Berkeley School of Journalism Local News Fellowship advisory board. This will close in 0 seconds Publisher of Monterey County Weekly Erik Cushman is the publisher of Monterey County Weekly and Monterey County Now (the company’s digital platforms) and has been on staff since 1999.

During Cushman’s tenure, the Weekly’s staff has earned hundreds of local, regional, and national awards for editorial content, design, newsletters and photography. Cushman was previously the General Manager at the Colorado Springs Independent (Sep 1997 - Mar 1999) and Publisher of the Missoula Independent (Feb 1991 - Mar 1997).

He has served on the Advisory Committee of the Marina Technology Cluster, the Boards of Directors of First Night Monterey and the Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce. Since 2015 he has been the Chair of the Monterey County Workforce Development Board. Cushman has also been a board member of the California News Publishers Association since 2016.

He is a graduate of the University of Montana and is married to Kristin Cushman. They have two adult daughters; he and Kristin live in Pacific Grove. This will close in 0 seconds