The Local News Network

The Local News Network at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism aids news outlets throughout Maryland by creating important localized news content and by teaming those news outlets with student reporters. Merrill College launched the Local News Network in the summer of 2022 thanks to an anchor commitment from the Andrew and Julie Klingenstein Family Fund. The college created the Local News Network to strengthen local news coverage throughout Maryland while providing students with invaluable experience in local news reporting.

Every semester, dozens of Merrill students take part in a project that aims to provide important content to support overtaxed Maryland news outlets. The Local News Network also offers an internship program that provides stipends to several students each summer to intern at a local news outlet. Students typically pursue those internships after their sophomore or junior year. The stipends cover living expenses and summer tuition credits.

Follow the Local News Network on X @LNNMaryland.
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Behind the Blueprint

“Behind the Blueprint” is the Local News Network’s comprehensive report on the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, the 10-year, multi-billion-dollar plan to remake public education in the state.

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Contracted out: How Maryland school districts do business

Maryland’s school districts are required by law to tell the state how they spend their money — and the Local News Network at the University of Maryland took a close look at that data. The records include every business or individual contractor that got $25,000 or more from a school district in a single fiscal year.

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Board of Education Race 2022 Coverage

Reporters at the Local News Network produced several in-depth stories about the issues in Maryland’s 2022 school board elections, based largely on a survey of and interviews with the candidates. In addition, student reporters vetted the candidates and produced stories about the ones who didn’t pay taxes on time — and one who had been repeatedly charged with shoplifting.

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Board of Education Voter Guide

The Local News Network surveyed all 155 Maryland school board candidates and got responses from 102 of them, which are included in this voter guide to the 2023 board of education elections in the state.

Contact The Local News Network

Jerry Zremski | jzremski@umd.edu