1. The majority of your publication’s content must be focused on providing original, local news and information to an audience in Lake County, Indiana.

This means that your publication aims to fulfill at least one of the following missions: 

• • Providing a geographically constrained audience (neighborhood, city, county, etc.) with relevant news and information. 
  • Providing an identity-based audience with news, information and/or resources through a lens that is specifically relevant to that audience (ex: an immigrant community or people who identify as LGBTQIA).    
  • Providing topic specific news for a local audience.

2. Your publication is committed to producing work that is accurate, fair, and reflective of the communities served.   

Accuracy and Combating Bias 

• • Your reporting is fact-based and accurate.  
  • You have a publicly posted corrections policy and/or easily accessible contact information for reporters and editors.  
  • You have a process for identifying, addressing, and mitigating bias in reporting.  

Transparency about funding 

• • You are clear with your audience about your funding and revenue sources.  
    • Nonprofits: You post your 990 IRS form 
    • For-profits: You clearly label advertising and sponsored content 

Transparency about people 

• • Your readers/viewers/listeners can easily find out who you are, the mission and values of your publication or news product, and why they should trust you.  
  • All content should be bylined. Even if you are the only person who writes for your site, individual stories should have bylines with full names.  
  • Any aggregated or curated content must credit and/or link to the original source (ex: an announcement from a local college, stories from other publications, etc.). 
  • You clearly label opinion pieces and byline opinion pieces. 

3. Community Engagement: Your publication demonstrates an effort to promote engagement with your audience. 

• • Your publication offers your audience a chance to engage with you and your team to ensure your stories are reflective of your community.  

4. Your publication is not owned by a political or religious institution.  

Legacy Foundation and the selected newsrooms will work together to promote internship opportunities to local colleges and universities. Undergraduate and graduate students studying journalism or a program related to a direct newsroom operational support role are eligible to apply. To ensure the proper fit, the newsroom will lead the internship interview and selection process, and Legacy Foundation staff will verify student eligibility prior to the interview.

After the interview process is complete and the newsroom has selected an intern, Legacy Foundation will begin the onboarding process, which includes a background check and traditional HR compliance paperwork. While the newsroom will be managing the intern on a day-to-day basis, the intern will be an employee of Legacy Foundation. 

In addition to providing payment to the intern, once the intern begins employment, the intern will set regular check in meetings with a Legacy Foundation staff member to maintain communication regarding progress and skills gained throughout the internship.  

Legacy Foundation staff will also maintain regular communication with the newsroom team to confirm hours worked by the intern, discuss internship successes, challenges, and future newsroom needs.  

The internship is eligible to last up to 16 weeks. If the student has not graduated, and the newsroom would like to continue the internship with the same student, the newsroom is eligible to request a renewal of its internship partnership with Legacy Foundation for an additional 16 weeks. If the newsroom would like to bring on a new student, or its current student has graduated, the newsroom will need to reapply.  

At the conclusion of the 16-week period, a short final report must be completed by both the student and newsroom.