Putnam County High School receives journalism grant

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois Farm Bureau and the Illinois Press Foundation today announce the awarding of grants to 18 high school journalism efforts throughout the state, including Putnam County.

The awards are part of the Illinois High School Media Mini-Grants Program offered by the Illinois Press Foundation and financially sponsored this year by Illinois Farm Bureau.

More than $22,000 total in grants will be distributed to the schools in the fall to pay for laptops, cameras, podcasting stations and more. The Illinois Press Foundation Board of Directors’ Education Committee selected the grant recipients from a large field of applicants.

“While we had initially planned to award 15 grants, the committee was more than happy to be able to get a few more schools involved in this year’s program with the funding we had available” said Jeff Rogers, director of the Illinois Press Foundation. “The Foundation and its board are so proud of the program, and of the work being done by student journalists and their remarkable advisers throughout the state.”

Chris Magnuson, executive director of Illinois Farm Bureau’s News and Communication division, congratulated the 2021 grant recipients.

“The talent inside each of these programs is promising, and helping these programs develop and grow is rewarding,” Magnuson said.

Putnam County High School received $1,500 to pay for newsprint and Adobe Creative Cloud software licenses.

The Illinois Farm Bureau is a member of the American Farm Bureau Federation, a national organization of farmers and ranchers. Founded in 1916, IFB is a non-profit, membership organization directed by farmers who join through their county Farm Bureau. IFB has a total membership of more than 378,237 and a voting membership of 77,909. IFB represents three out of four Illinois farmers.

The Illinois Press Foundation is dedicated to promoting and protecting free expression through educational activities that foster the practice and respect of First Amendment principles and values, to enhance the quality of services provided by newspapers to their communities, and to support reading and literacy efforts.

The IPF was established in 1982 as the charitable arm of the Illinois Press Association.

Its news service, Capitol News Illinois, has provided daily coverage of state government for Illinois’ newspapers since it was formed in 2019.