Coronavirus

California Black Newspapers Win Hundreds of Thousands in Facebook Grants

Published

4 years ago

May 13, 2020

Several Black-owned newspapers in California have received grants to help them weather the economic downturn the COVID-19 pandemic has caused. Facebook announced May 7 that it is awarding nearly $10.3 million to 144 local newsrooms through the company’s COVID-19 Local News Relief Fund Grant Program.

According to the Facebook Journalism Project, more than half of the recipients are publications operated by — and targeted to — communities of color, and the majority are independent or family-owned.

“We are honored to have been chosen to receive the Facebook Journalism Project COVID-19 program Grant,” Danny J. Bakewell, Sr., executive editor and CEO of the Los Angeles Sentinel, told California Black Media.

“We have been and remain committed to helping our community survive in these unprecedented challenging times, when all businesses and families are struggling, especially those within the African-American Community,” Bakewell added.

The majority of the Black-owned California newsrooms that received over $300,000 in grants are located in Southern California around the greater Los Angeles area, including the L.A. Sentinel, the L.A. Focus Newspaper, the Los Angeles Wave and Independent Newspaper Group and Black Voice News in Riverside.

The Oakland Post, a Black-owned paper in Northern California didn’t receive a grant but was delighted that so many Black media throughout the nation did.

“I am pleased to see that Facebook invested in African-American and other ethnic media,” said Paul Cobb, publisher of the Oakland Post. “I am, however, concerned that it was concentrated in Southern California and left a huge void with the rest of the Black community statewide. I hope this opens the door for more conversations to fund those who still need support.”

Lisa Collins, publisher of the L.A. Focus Newspaper, said the money is timely.

“I am thrilled [the Focus] was selected to receive this grant. This will help us continue to serve our community with timely and valuable news and information on COVID-19 and better inform our community,” said Collins.

Paulette Brown-Hinds, founder of Voice Media Ventures and publisher of Black Voice News, has big plans for the grant money.

“This Facebook grant will allow our team to build on our current reporting on the economic impact of COVID 19 on our community, as well as expand our expertise in data journalism and data visualization and mapping.”

“As a community-focused media entity, we look forward to continuing to be a resource not simply contributing to community thought and understanding, but to community engagement and action.”

The grant recipients were chosen from a pool of more than 2,000 applicants by the Facebook Journalism Project and its partners: The Local Media Association and the Lenfest Institute for Journalism. The grants range from $25,000 to $100,000 to help publishers serve their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re proud to support this diverse group of publishers — many of which are family or independently owned, said Campbell Brown, VP of global news partnerships at Facebook.

“Not only are these journalists working tirelessly to serve people right now — they’re focused on transformation, building innovative local news businesses that can continue to serve communities beyond the current pandemic.”

In addition, to the COVID-19 relief grants, Facebook also awarded $5.4 million in grants to North American newsrooms that have participated in Facebook’s Local News Accelerator programs.

Bakewell says he appreciates the support the grant has provided. It places his publication in a stronger position to provide vital information to people in his community whose lives the pandemic has disrupted.

“This grant will help us to continue our mission of informing our community of the resources available to help navigate through this pandemic so that we can all come through this together — safe, healthy with our dignity intact,” he said.

Quinci LeGardye

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Bay Area

Authorities Warn: There’s a COVID Surge in California

According to data estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the coronavirus in California’s wastewater has spiked for eight consecutive weeks. Hospitalizations and emergency room visits have also increased since the rise of the new subvariants. Over the last month, Los Angeles County experienced an average of 389 hospital patients per day that tested positive for the coronavirus. The FLiRT subvariants such as KP.3.1.1. Made up over 2% of coronavirus samples nationwide, an increase of more than 7% last month.

Published

3 months ago

August 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Photo provided by California Black Media.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

California is experiencing a COVID-19 surge this summer, experts warn, as numbers of infections increased for the third month this year.

State public health authorities attribute the summer COVID surge to more infectious subvariants that have emerged as the coronavirus evolves.

Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, regional chief of infectious disease at Kaiser Permanente Southern California, stated that subvariants of COVID-19 called FLiRT increased in recent months, particularly one named KP.3.1.1 that has become the most common strain in the country.

Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases expert at UC San Francisco, said that the subvariant KP.3.1.1 seems most adept at transmission.

“The subvariant is the one that people think will continue to take over, not only in the United States, but … around the world,” Chin-Hong said.

The majority of the people who tested positive for COVID-19 complained of a sore throat and a heavy cough. Risk factors that can increase the illness include age, underlying health issues, and vaccine dosage.

Health experts stated that the demand for the COVID-19 vaccine has increased in Northern California. However, people are having a hard time getting the vaccine due to the increasing number of cases.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

California Black Media

Gov. Newsom and Gov. DeSantis Go Head-to-Head in Nationally Televised Debate

Conservative Fox News personality Sean Hannity moderated the duel, during which the TV pundit, more than once, injected his opinion, and appeared to be providing subtle assists to DeSantis. As the debate progressed, it was clear that opinions about each topic discussed was representative of the philosophical and political chasm that divides liberal and conservative America, and a preview of campaign mudslinging that is bound to intensify as the 2024 presidential campaign ensues.

Published

11 months ago

December 10, 2023

Oakland Post

The debate between Gov. Gavin Newsom and Gov. Ron DeSantis was moderated by Fox News personality Sean Hannity. California Black Media image.

By California Black Media

In an intense, 95-minute-plus televised faceoff between California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Nov. 30, the men traded jabs and putdowns, defended their respective gubernatorial records, disagreed sharply on how to solve the country’s most pressing problems, and expressed clashing views on the performance of the Biden-Harris administration.

Conservative Fox News personality Sean Hannity moderated the duel, during which the TV pundit, more than once, injected his opinion, and appeared to be providing subtle assists to DeSantis.

As the debate progressed, it was clear that opinions about each topic discussed was representative of the philosophical and political chasm that divides liberal and conservative America, and a preview of campaign mudslinging that is bound to intensify as the 2024 presidential campaign ensues.

“I’ll tell you why I’m here,” Newsom said. “I’m here to tell the truth about the Biden-Harris record and also compare and contrast Ron DeSantis’ record and the Republican Party’s record” with that of California.

DeSantis blasted Newsom’s management of the COVID-19 crisis and criticized Newsom for prevalent crime, homelessness and deteriorating social conditions in California cities.

“You have the freedom to defecate in public in California,” DeSantis said. “You have the freedom to pitch a tent on Sunset Boulevard. You have the freedom to create a homeless encampment under a freeway and even light it on fire. They’re not the freedoms our founding fathers envisioned.”

Newsom took a jab at DeSantis’ presidential candidacy, predicting that the Florida Governor would be endorsing GOP frontrunner Donald Trump soon.

“There’s one thing we have in common,” Newsom said. “Neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024.

Oakland Post

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BayCityNews

FDA Updates Approval of Pfizer Booster Vaccine for Children Under 5

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration updated its approval Tuesday of the Pfizer-BioNTech booster vaccine, making it available to some children under age 5. Before this update, children under 5 were not eligible for COVID-19 booster shots. Instead, they received three doses of the regular vaccine.

Published

2 years ago

March 22, 2023

Oakland Post

As of December 2022, children age 4 and younger who have not been vaccinated receive the omicron variant-specific booster vaccine as the third dose in their primary vaccine series, following two doses of the original Pfizer vaccine.

By Eli Walsh
Bay City News

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration updated its approval Tuesday of the Pfizer-BioNTech booster vaccine, making it available to some children under age 5.

Before this update, children under 5 were not eligible for COVID-19 booster shots. Instead, they received three doses of the regular vaccine.

However, children in that age range who completed their initial vaccination series before December 2022 only received three doses of the original Pfizer vaccine, and are less protected against more infectious variants of the virus as a result.

FDA officials updated the vaccine’s emergency use authorization Tuesday to allow those children who only received the original Pfizer COVID vaccine to receive one dose of the bivalent booster if it has been at least two months since they completed their initial series.

Other children under age 5 are not eligible for the booster, although everyone age 5 and up is eligible for a booster.

“Currently available data show that vaccination remains the best defense against severe disease, hospitalization and death caused by COVID-19 across all age groups, and we encourage all eligible individuals to make sure that their vaccinations are up to date with a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine,” said Dr. Peter Marks, the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

Clinical data has found that both the original Pfizer vaccine and the booster vaccine that targets the omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 are safe for everyone aged 6 months and up and effective at preventing the worst outcomes of COVID infection, including serious illness and death.

COVID vaccines are available at primary care providers, retail pharmacies and some facilities operated by local health departments.

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