We are thrilled to share the news that El Tímpano has been selected to be among the first recipients of the Community Listening and Engagement Fund (CLEF) grant. The CLEF grant was created by the News Integrity Initiative, the Knight Foundation, and the Lenfest Institute “to help news organizations produce more relevant and trusted coverage for the diverse audiences they serve.

The grant will partially subsidize the cost of GroundSource, a platform developed for newsrooms to use text messaging as a way to disseminate information and listen to their audiences. The platform has been used by innovative local newsrooms such as the Listening Post in New Orleans and Outlier Media in Detroit.
El Tímpano will use the CLEF grant to pilot a two-way, Spanish-language news bulletin to share local news, information, and resources with subscribers as well as gather and respond to their stories, questions, and concerns. We plan to launch this pilot in early 2019.
We’re seeking further funding to hire a coordinating producer to support this new initiative. If you are interested in donating, head on over to our Support page. If you’d like to collaborate or learn more, get in touch with Madeleine at mb[at]eltimpano[dot]org.