A $75,000 grant from Manatee Community Foundation’s Knight Donor Advised Fund is being awarded to WUSF Public Media for a new reporter covering Manatee and Sarasota counties. The matching grant will help to ensure a 3-year commitment for the newly created position.

The reporter will focus on core issues of health, education, the environment and the lives of veterans and active military. This journalist will tell stories from a local perspective including trends impacting community.

In alignment with the Knight Foundation’s core mission, this project will foster a more informed community by telling important, in-depth stories of underrepresented populations and critical issues that require our attention, funding, conversation, and engagement. The listenership is diverse and tends to be concerned with social issues that impact the quality of life in our communities. Additionally, studies have suggested that those who listen to public media are more likely to take action after hearing a story.

Manatee Community Foundation was formed by a challenge grant from the Knight Foundation and a group of local community leaders who recognized the importance of Manatee County having its own community foundation to connect the charitable needs of donors to local organizations. The Knight Donor Advised Fund of MCF continues to support projects that build informed and engaged communities in Bradenton and beyond.