Our Times Newspaper Wins National Pitch Competition at LMA Journalism Funding Lab

We’re excited to share some big news with our community.

Our Times Newspaper has won 1st place in the national Pitch Day competition for the 2025–2026 cohort of the LMA Lab for Journalism Funding. Our project, the Youth Media Lab, was selected by a panel of funder judges as the top presentation during the morning session, earning a $5,000 award to support the work.

The LMA Lab for Journalism Funding has trained more than 200 newsrooms across the country since 2020, helping local media organizations develop philanthropic support for essential community journalism. Collectively, participating newsrooms have raised more than $38 million to strengthen local news.

Our winning project focuses on creating a Youth Media Lab, a youth-led journalism initiative that gives young people the tools to report on issues that matter to them and their communities. The program will provide training, mentorship, and opportunities for youth voices to be published through Our Times.

One judge noted:
“Your youth-led media pilot is powerful because you’re directly responding to their clearly stated need, and you already have early proof of concept from your current youth contributors.”

You can see the full announcement and Pitch Day winners here:
Pitch Day winners showcase local journalism’s power as a convener – Local Media Association + Local Media Foundation

We are grateful to the Local Media Association, the LMA Lab for Journalism Funding, and the Knight Foundation for supporting this national cohort and investing in the future of local journalism.

Most importantly, we thank our community and the young people who inspire this work every day. This recognition affirms what we already know: the future of journalism includes the next generation of storytellers.

Stay tuned for more updates as we bring the Youth Media Lab to life.