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The Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund is supporting The Plug and WURD with a two-year, $300,000 grant to fund an expansion of reporting and documentation efforts covering Philadelphia’s BIPOC technology and innovation sector. The goal of the collaboration is to produce thoughtful and explanatory journalism, topical radio segments, and virtual events connecting local leaders and innovators using both organizations’ platforms.

The Plug and WURD are owned and led by Black women, positioning these organizations to carry out this work in service of the community and help change the way journalists cover the tech economy. The collaboration also spans generational audiences, amplifying robust community discourse grounded in decades of wisdom and experiences that can move ideas forward.

In order to pursue these goals, The Plug and WURD will create a partnership network with journalism and community organizations focused on the tech sector and innovation economy. They hope to establish strategies that other news outlets can embrace to improve their coverage of Black and Latinx businesses and founders. As a result, the grant will also fund the creation of a best practices guide that newsrooms, journalists, and ecosystem leaders reporting on and supporting BIPOC business creation across the country can use to improve their processes.

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