The Day is among 20 news organizations throughout the country selected to participate in an immersive journalism funding project operated by the Local Media Association.

The Lab for Journalism Funding, offered by LMA for the second time, will help news organizations develop and execute strategies to fund local journalism, in part through philanthropic support. Sixteen publishers who took part in LMA's first lab raised more than $5 million to fund local journalism.

In The Day's application, Executive Editor Timothy J. Cotter described a newsroom project in the early stages of development called the Economic Mobility Solutions Lab. A committee of reporters and editors has been brainstorming the project and started a listening tour of potential stakeholders in the community.

With technical assistance from LMA, the newsroom will be seeking funding from outside sources to report on issues of equity and mobility in southeastern Connecticut, starting with the topic of affordable housing.

"We don't just want to tell stories; we want to help bring about change," Cotter said. 

Carlos Virgen, The Day's assistant managing editor for audience development, and Karen Florin, audience engagement editor, are participating in the immersive lab from September through December.

More than 50 companies applied to be part of the program, which is operated by LMA with support from the Google News Initiative and new funding from The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. A list of the participants, and details of the lab can be found at LMA's website, localmedia.org.

Collectively the group will aim to raise at least $5 million by June 30, 2022. Case studies and an industry playbook will be published, sharing best practices and lessons learned.