The Adirondack Community Trust (ACT) and Canton-based North Country Public Radio (NCPR) have received a $300,000 challenge grant to expand NCPR regional broadcast and digital news and information throughout the Adirondacks.

The objective of the project, 21st Century Public Media on a Rural Map, is to make all NCPR platforms part of a single, integrated resource for the people of the Adirondack region – a resource that they can increasingly play a part in imagining and shaping.

As part of the challenge, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation grant has to be matched with local dollars from local residents. With the required match, this project will bring $650,000 to $700,000 into the work of the organizations over the next three years.

A special emphasis would be on creating the next generation of public media professionals, according to a press release from ACT.

The partnership with ACT will take NCPR’s service to a new level by expanding its work on existing and emerging platforms and by deepening the integration of community participation in public media.

More residents will have access to information on a variety of platforms; they will participate in creating content and sharing information; young people will have an opportunity to work under the guidance of proven professionals to learn the skills of public media; and more people will connect with other residents of the region.

“With this Knight Foundation grant, ACT is making it possible for NCPR to do leading-edge work for our community,” said Ellen Rocco, NCPR Station Manager. “And, as an active collaborator on the project, ACT brings expertise, access to and input from people across the region, and a great reputation—contributions that are essential to the project’s success.”

The funding is part of the Knight Community Information Challenge, which encourages community and place-based foundations to support news and information projects that inform and engage residents.

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts; believing that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged.

The Adirondack Community Trust is a community foundation working to build charitable funds to help meet current and future needs of the Adirondack region. ACT is structured so that donors can take full advantage of tax benefits either during their lifetime or through their estates. Funds are pooled for investment and grants are made annually according to donors’ wishes.

ACT currently manages 200 funds with assets of $28 million dollars and has made grants in excess of $15 million to benefit the Adirondack region and beyond.

For more information about the Knight Challenge partnership, visit generousact.org or ncpr.org.