OLYMPIA – Small towns around Washington state that have seen local news wither will get a civic shot in the arm from new funding in the state’s budget, passed Sunday. The appropriation of $2.4 million over the next two years, championed by Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Des Moines) and Sen. Marko Liias (D-Everett), establishes a new public-interest journalism fellowship program in the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University, which will support reporting focused on topics essential to civic life. “A strong press is fundamental to a thriving democracy,” said Keiser, a graduate of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and veteran of newsrooms in Oregon, Colorado, and Washington. “Yet Washington has lost 20% of its newspapers over ...
Read MoreAbout Sen. Keiser
President Pro Tempore, Chair of Labor & Commerce Committee
Sen. Karen Keiser represents Washington’s 33rd Legislative District, which contains a number of suburban cities south of Seattle, including SeaTac, Kent, Des Moines and Burien. As President Pro Tempore, she presides over the Washington State Senate when the lieutenant governor is unavailable. And as chair of the Senate Labor & Commerce Committee, she champions policies that help working families and improve women’s economic security.
Read Sen. Keiser’s full biography here.
