Microsoft starts project to boost local news in El Paso-Juarez, 3 other areas

Software giant Microsoft, which two years ago started its TechSpark economic development program in the El Paso-Juárez area, has now selected the two cities, along with three other cities in the United States, to test a project aimed at bolstering local news organizations.

The rebuilding local news program is headed by community foundations in the four areas, including the El Paso Community Foundation.

The other communities in the pilot project are Fresno, California; Yakima, Washington; and the Jackson, Mississippi/Mississippi Delta region.

Many El Paso news organizations, including TV stations, at least one Juárez online news organization, and the University of Texas at El Paso Communication Department are expected to participate in the pilot program, said Eric Pearson, chief executive officer of the El Paso Community Foundation.

The El Paso Times, owned by the national Gannett newspaper chain, will be a participant.

Newsrooms' 'dire straits' prompts Microsoft to launch project

Mary Snapp, Microsoft vice president of strategic initiatives, said Microsoft officials involved in the company's TechSpark and Defending Democracy election-related initiatives saw the "dire straits" local newsrooms are in and decided helping reinvigorate local news organizations is important for local communities and the nation as a whole.

“We know that if we’re going to have a viable democracy, and we are a democracy, that people need to be informed” on a wide range of issues, Snapp said. “We need an independent, fact-based source of information, and that for hundreds of years has been the media.”

But "over the last 15 years, half the jobs in newsrooms in our country have disappeared, and over 2,000 newspapers have disappeared as well," Snapp said.

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The idea is to use Microsoft resources, including technology and possibly some cash grants, to come up with innovative ways to “help bolster and create a stronger (local news) business model than there is today,” she said.

Microsoft will provide funding to community foundations in the pilot program to cover costs and attract matching funds. But Snapp declined to say how much money Microsoft would invest in the initiative.

El Paso Community Foundation's Pearson said Microsoft's initiative is "not just throwing money at the problem, but enhancing journalists' ability to do their jobs," with the help of Microsoft technology tools and expertise in such things as data analytics. 

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In 2019, Microsoft announced it was investing $1.5 million in the Bridge Accelerator program in Juárez to help expand companies in the manufacturing sector as part of its TechSpark program in El Paso-Juárez.

The binational cities were selected for the journalism pilot program because of their involvement in TechSpark, but also because of the area's diverse demographics and diverse local media outlets, Snapp said.

"The hope is the model (developed through the pilot program) is replicated and that it gets better and better each time, whether it's us or whether it's others doing that work," Snapp said.

Competing news outlets will look at the 'bigger picture' of local news

Pearson said he sees the Microsoft project as a way to get people from competing El Paso -Juárez news organizations together to discuss broad issues affecting all levels of journalism, and find ways to improve local news. 

"You leave your team loyalty at the door, and you come in thinking about the bigger picture," said Pearson, a former TV journalist.

"The ultimate goal is not just building the news environment, but building up the community environment, and how do we increase engagement in politics, in community initiatives" without dictating news coverage, he said.

Details of how the program will be implemented in the El Paso-Juárez area still need to be worked out, and likely will be developed through roundtable discussions with news organizations, Pearson said.

Microsoft to provide technology, other help for news organizations

Besides funding for the community foundations in the cities in the pilot program, Microsoft also plans to provide deeply discounted software products and services to news organizations, access to new technologies to combat disinformation and cyber-attacks, and pro-bono legal support on open-record matters, and to fight lawsuits aimed at stopping or impeding news stories.

The company also plans to convene experts on new sources of revenue and funding for local news organizations.

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It also plans to expand distribution of local news from the pilot communities through the company's free Microsoft News website and phone app and the company's Bing search engine.

El Paso Times stories are already part of the Microsoft News feed for this area. The company shares a portion of revenues from ads that run next to a news organization's stories, according to Microsoft information.

Vic Kolenc may be reached at 546-6421; vkolenc@elpasotimes.com; @vickolenc on Twitter.