Quietly Supporting News And Literacy For Decades
By Cecile Wehrman, NDNA Executive Director
From providing news content North Dakotans need, to training a new generation of journalists, to insuring a literate future society of citizens, the North Dakota Newspaper Association Education Foundation (NDNAEF) has for decades been impacting North Dakota, but almost no one has ever heard of the group.
Established in 1993 with a single gift from a newspaper publisher, NDNAEF since 2009 has awarded over $1.4 million to programs and activities positively impacting the future of newspapers – and by extension, North Dakota communities.
When a child competes in the North Dakota Spelling Bee, for instance, he or she does so thanks to support from NDNAEF. When a college student takes a summer internship at a weekly newspaper, a large portion of the pay comes from NDNAEF. When a newspaper subscriber reads a story of statewide significance that specifically touches rural people, it’s likely it came either from the North Dakota News Cooperative (NDNC), which receives major support from NDNAEF or through NDNAEF’s legislative internship program.
If a high school student attends a digital storytellers camp at UND or participates in BSC’s Content Creators Summit, it’s thanks in part to a grant from NDNAEF. Likewise, when your child or grandchild brings home an issue of Kid Scoop News, it’s because NDNAEF helped to pay for it.
Now, for the first time, NDNAEF is appealing through its newspaper members to invite readers to participate in sustaining the valuable programs it champions. As newspapers evolve to best meet the needs of future readers, NDNAEF’s investment income alone will not sustain gifts to programs whose absence would not only be deeply felt, but impact the future health of local news sources.
Over the next few months, NDNAEF will be providing local newspapers with a series of messages highlighting each of the programs benefitting youth through literacy and education opportunities, as well as the readers who consume the content NDNAEF and NDNC provide through news reporting, polls and podcasts.
Once aware of all of the ways NDNAEF is working to insure students can read and understand language, have opportunities to pursue news reporting that is critical in serving communities across the state, and readers who receive valuable content through their newspaper subscription, NDNAEF hopes parents, grandparents and news consumers of all ages will want to join this effort.
I hope you’ll watch for the series of messages you’ll be seeing in this newspaper in the coming weeks and if you’re moved to help, consider a gift to NDNAEF.
(NDNAEF is overseen by a board of newspaper professionals, educators, and citizens who care about sustaining and supporting journalism, newspapers and the information all citizens need. NDNAEF receives staff support from the North Dakota Newspaper Association (NDNA). Questions about either organization may be directed to Wehrman at director@ndna.com.)