INDIANAPOLIS – The Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism has joined a coalition of media organizations and philanthropic ventures to help the newly launched Indiana Local News Initiative.

The coalition raised over $10 million to launch the Indiana Local News Initiative, an effort dedicated to developing quality, independent local news and make information freely available to Hoosiers, according to a news release from the American Journalism Project.

The Indiana Local News Initiative will help launch a 25-person news organization in central Indiana, support a new venture in Gary by Capital B, and bolster the Indianapolis Recorder, Indiana News Service and Franklin College’s TheStatehouseFile.com

“With these initial investments, we are adding some 30 local news jobs and hope to add many more,” said Karen Ferguson Fuson, who will serve as board chair of the new organization and is the former publisher of the Indianapolis Star, in a news release. “We’ll be working together with partners to amplify existing coverage, close coverage gaps and drastically increase the amount of unbiased original reporting in Indiana. Community and collaboration are the core of this initiative.”

Newsroom partners for the initiative include the Arnolt Center, Capital B Gary, Chalkbeat Indiana, Circle City Broadcasting, the Hoosier State Press Association, the Indiana Capital Chronicle, The Indiana Citizen, Indiana News Service, The Indianapolis Recorder, the Indianapolis Star, TheStatehouseFile.com, WFYI Public Media and WISH-TV.