Ethnic Media Grants

The California State Library is making available $5 million in grant funding for ethnic media outlets and organizations, especially those that serve communities that are historically vulnerable to hate incidents and hate crimes because of their ethnic, racial, religious, gender/gender expression, sexual orientation, or other identities. Grantees shall support the public awareness efforts of the Stop the Hate Program administered by the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), which provides support and services to victims and survivors of hate incidents and hate crimes and facilitates hate incident or hate crime prevention measures. They shall also promote community healing and cross-racial and cross-cultural understanding. Grant funding is available for fellowships, internships, and funding for reporters; content development; training and skills development; news briefings and roundtables; digital and social media content; partnerships with grassroots organizations and Community Based Organizations (CBOs); funding for interpreters/translators; and other activities that will raise awareness of the Stop the Hate Program and issues relating to hate incidents and hate crimes. Ethnic media can include a range of platforms, languages, audiences, coverage areas, sizes and production standards. For the purposes of this program, ethnic media refers to media organizations, enterprises and projects by or for California’s ethnic populations and historically underserved and underrepresented groups, with an emphasis on those communities at greatest risk of experiencing hate incidents and hate crimes. These priority populations include, but are not limited to, people who are: Asian American Black/African American Immigrants and refugees Indian/Native American and Tribal communities Latinx LGBTQ+ Limited English Proficient (LEP) Middle Eastern and North African Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders Religious minorities Grantees must: 1. Increase awareness among priority communities identified in the CDSS’s Stop the Hate program, which provides direct services to victims and survivors of hate incidents and hate crimes and supports hate incident or crime prevention measures. For more information on the Stop the Hate Program, go to: https://cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/cdss-programs/civil-rights/care-funding. 2. Educate and engage priority communities about the elements of hate incidents and hate crimes and related topics, such as community healing, cross-cultural and cross-racial collaboration, and the long-standing racial inequities and social conditions that enable hate incidents and crimes. 3. Reduce the stigma surrounding reporting of hate incidents and crimes and encourage reporting and use of services by survivors. 4. Support and strengthen the ethnic media news sector. 5. Be rooted in values of racial equity, community empowerment, and cross-cultural and cross-racial collaboration. 6. Coordinate and engage with the CDSS and CBOs selected to implement the Stop the Hate Program as needed to align messaging and outreach efforts.