Coachella Valley journalist

“With the grant, I’m excited to specifically focus on housing and ways that the Coachella Valley and Morongo Basin are addressing the housing crisis that we face,” Daniels said. “There’s a lack of affordable housing for families for single people, for the elderly, for people struggling with mental health and addiction.”

“I think we all see the difficult reality of what it means to be unhoused,” she added. “We’ve all seen the tents on the side of the road, and I don’t think that’s a community anyone wants to live in. It’s heartbreaking for the people who are experiencing that. I’m hoping to write some solution-journalism stories that look at what local governments, developers, and communities are doing to help address the affordable housing crisis.”

Several years ago, Daniels launched her column, Civic Solutions, a solutions-journalism-focused column, which takes a deep dive into issues, looking at them from a solutions lens. Investigating what organizations and people are doing to target those issues head-on is key. 

“I then work backward to say, ‘OK, what worked here, what didn’t?” Daniels said. “Some of the different things that I’ve 

looked at for civic solutions, including hunger, specifically child hunger, the free lunch program that California started, and how that’s been successful in local schools.”

Daniels also looked at issues surrounding voting access.

“During the November elections, I talked to some folks who were doing a lot to get the word out about people who were felons released from prison so that they could start voting again, and a lot of them didn’t know that they could. It was a democracy participation story.”

The IECF grant comes at a pivotal time in history when rampant disinformation and loss of local journalism outlets continues to draw major concerns. According to “The Community Foundation Local Media Guidebook,” researcher Dr. Penny Abernathy, a former professor at UNC, noted at least 85 local newsrooms in the U.S. have closed since the pandemic. Others have barely remained in operation, cutting staff, salaries, and work hours. 

Additionally, about 1,800 newspapers have closed around the country since 2004.

To that end, Daniels has emerged as one of several if not rare agents of change in local media.

“I do it kind of for the love of the game,” she said. “It’s not my full-time job—I’m also a journalist for my full-time job, but not on local news.”

Her affinity for local news investigation is strong.

“We already have a lot of news stories and headlines with people identifying what’s wrong and there’s certainly a need for that, but I think the news landscape is really cluttered right now and people don’t know where to get news,” Daniels added. “I think there’s a lot of people who are sidelined by misinformation. There’s a lot of people who are more likely to get their news from a Facebook group than a legacy media outlet.”

That was one of the reasons Daniels started thinking about the kind of stories she really wanted to write, and she discovered that they revolved around her own community and the desert.

“I didn’t want to write stories that are only looking at problems,” she said. “I would rather look at ways that we’re trying to solve those problems to see what other people could learn from them.”

Meanwhile, the journalist remains busy with a focus on housing.

“I think there’s going to be some stories looking at competing interests,” she said. “The interests of developers versus interests of residents who are long-time members of the community. That’s a story we see all over the valley in different ways—people who want more housing built, people who don’t want more housing built, people who only want certain kinds of housing built, people who need other kinds of housing built.” 

“I want to look at those conversations as they’re happening and say, “OK, what’s not being done for the people who are in this community already?” she added. “What is it that they need and how do we reach that?”

Learn more at melissamdaniels.com.

This article originally appeared in the Desert Sun, April 2025.

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  From the communities of Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage to Thousand Palms and Thermal, El Informador Del Valle has long been making an impact. But a recent grant from Inland Empire Community Foundation through the Desert Community News Fund is providing the Spanish-language newspaper more opportunities to expand.

“We’re going to strengthen our local and regional media ecosystem in the community,” said Héctor Félix Jr. of the funding. “We want to provide even more news and information to all the rural areas in the Riverside County, especially on the east side where the county ends or begins.

Félix’s father, Héctor Félix, Sr., founded the publication in 1988. Over time, it morphed into a significant go-to known for its investigative journalism. In its heyday, Héctor Félix, Sr. was recognized for his critical reporting chops, particularly on various drug cartels.

“I’ve been collaborating and helping out the family-owned business since I was a little boy,” Félix said. “Some of my most vivid memories were being in our own print shop. We had our employees actually print our weekly newspaper. 

“We used to have to use a typewriter to type up all the articles,” he added.

Don’t forget photos. At the time, long before today’s modern tech advances, photos were developed in a darkroom.

“We had to cut and paste pretty much everything back then,” Félix added. “The big old newspapers then were pretty much templates, and we had the big desk with the light underneath so we could look at all the newspaper graphics. So, this newspaper formed a lot of my memories as a kid. This is what makes me happy—providing newspapers to the community.”

The publication’s reach is still vast with news reporting stretching well into Coachella and Mecca. To that end, it remains one of those rarities in these modern times—a locally owned newspaper with strong ties to its community and a deep  devotion to sharing news and information to its readers.

Without corporate pressures, which typically come with a bottom-line price tag, Félix is ever optimistic about the road ahead heading into 2025 and beyond. One look at the publication’s website is proof of that as there’s a significant portal to list community events and even entertainment news and notices.

Chances are that residents as east as Salton Sea have picked up the newspaper, too, as it is among the long list of distribution points.

Overall, El Informador Del Valle continues to build on the strong foundation of its creator and Félix, its first-generation leader now, hopes to steer it successfully to new heights.

“I want people to know that we’re still actively providing local news, information, topics, and sports,” Félix said. “And that it’s a free publication you can find in all the Hispanic or Latino stores. We’re very much looking to the future now.”

Learn more at elinformadordelvalle.com.

This article originally appeared in the Desert Sun, January 2024.

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“What we do is raise money to help support local journalists and local journalism organizations,” said Randy Lovely, Board President of Coachella Valley Journalism Foundation (CVJF). “We do that in a number of ways, through staff positions, interns, or providing one-time grants to help offset the cost of a reporting project, or travel and such.”

The grant CVJF received was a directed grant, which is not distributed to general operations. Instead, it funnels into fundraising efforts that support the Desert Sun’s philanthropy editor position.

“The position is, in essence, funded by the community, just as Desert Sun’s opinion page editor,” Lovely said. “Those two positions are grant-supported positions. We have paid for, now going into the fifth year, the editorial page position. The new grant goes toward the philanthropy and giving editor position.”

It’s a big boost for journalism during a time of unprecedented change in the media industry.

“Obviously, that kind of coverage is incredibly important in terms of what it does to help raise the profile of the various non-profits throughout the Valley that are trying to provide incredible services to the community,” Lovely added. “By having that position and having that content in the Desert Sun and its website, it really helps these organizations achieve their goals.”

It’s a valiant effort on the part of CVJF, whose primary mission is to, “promote and support sustainable community journalism in the Coachella Valley.” A major goal is to celebrate and perhaps elevate local journalism, thereby recognizing the work of Valley journalists.

The organization itself is quick to promote a vibrant ideal, something Walter Cronkite once said: “Journalism is what we need to make democracy work.”

That continues to be a challenge for many media organizations in the 2020s. Traditional business models of local news outlets—from newspapers and television broadcasters to radio stations—have been greatly impacted by high-tech and economic slumps. Corporate interests continue to affect many outlets, sometimes stripping away needed resources, such as salaried positions. 

To that end, CVJF strives to improve and expand the work of local news organizations, which aim to remain in service to the community.

“Coachella Valley has an incredible history of philanthropic giving, and I would say probably per capita, we probably have more dollars raised philanthropically than most communities do,” Lovely said. “It’s a very generous community, but there’s also a lot of organizations who are vying for that attention and vying for those dollars, and so the philanthropy section helps shine the spotlight on those worthy organizations that are doing such incredible things across the Valley.”

On the horizon, Lovely points out several events that stand out. CVJF’s major fundraising event is on January 14.  Lovely calls it, “Our Coachella Valley Media Hall of Fame event.” In its second year now, tickets are on sale through the end of December.

Roughly five major events are planned throughout the year, in fact, which Lovely says, “helps connect local journalists with the community.”

These range from author events to exhibits.

“We’re planning a photo exhibit of news photography later this spring,” Lovely said. “We try to help the community understand the important work that journalists do and give them an opportunity to meet some of the local journalists. We also launched a membership program, and so that’s a big push for us as an organization is to get people to sign on as members.”

“It shows the grassroots support that’s really important for us as we go out and seek other grants,” he added.

Learn more at cvjf.org.

This article originally appeared in the Desert Sun, January 2025

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Strengthening Collaborative Inland Empire Journalism: A $175K Boost from Press Forward

The IE Journalism Innovation Hub+Fund (IEJIHF) at IECF has been awarded a $175,000 grant from Press Forward to support local and regional journalism and build the pipeline of talent for the sector. The Fund is a cooperative model established in 2022 to bridge the gaps in the region’s news coverage through collaborative media partnerships, thereby strengthening communities and democracy.

An Innovative Approach to Local News

The Inland Empire has long suffered from limited media coverage and a lack of institutional accountability­­­­­–challenges the Hub+Fund seeks to address. This collaborative model will foster partnerships among local media organizations, independent journalists, and citizen journalists. By pooling resources and sharing expertise, it aims to enhance the depth and breadth of reporting on key local issues. One of the Hub+Fund’s primary goals is to serve underrepresented audiences and address information gaps. Historically, communities of color in the Inland Empire have suffered from narratives that criminalize them and exclude important stories that reflect their realities. The Hub+Fund aims to change this narrative by bringing in media professionals who reflect the communities they cover and by ensuring that these communities have a sense of ownership and accessibility.

Building a Sustainable Funding Model

To ensure the long-term sustainability of the Hub+Fund, the IECF will use the Press Forward grant to hire a dedicated development professional to focus on donor engagement, institutional relationship building, and identifying strategic partnership opportunities. By securing additional funding from regional donors and larger grants, the Hub+Fund can continue to expand its initiatives and support local journalism. Show your support for local journalism by donating today!

More Press Forward Grants

Two local media outlets are part of the 18 California newsrooms and 205 nationwide newsrooms receiving a share of $20 million from Press Forward to address coverage gaps in their communities.

The grants, totaling $100,000 each over two years, will support these media outlets in their efforts to provide reliable and community-focused news coverage. Black Voice News, a Black-owned newsroom operating since 1972, will use the funds to support community engagement to bolster reporting and increase editorial impact. The Riverside Record, a community-focused nonprofit digital newsroom, will use the funding to support its goal of providing high-quality, local content that inspires people to become involved in their communities.

This local funding from Press Forward and its support of the Inland Empire Journalism Innovation Hub + Fund are essential for maintaining a sustainable and reliable news landscape in the region. By strengthening local news, we can ensure that our communities have access to the information they need to make informed decisions.

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