LINA is proud to partner with Multicultural NSW to deliver the Know Your Neighbour program from July 2026 to June 2027, following the success of last year’s pilot.
Support the next generation of community storytellers
We’re inviting 20 local newsrooms across New South Wales to take part in the Know Your Neighbour program, with each newsroom supporting two young people aged 15–25 to develop their journalism, networking and digital content skills.
Building on the success of last year’s pilot, the program supports social cohesion by fostering cross-cultural understanding, strengthening community connections and supporting young people to tell stories reflecting the diversity of their communities.
It also responds to the way young Australians increasingly access news, with the 2026 Digital News Report finding that almost half of people under 35 now identify social media as their primary source of local news.
Newsrooms involved in last year’s program said young contributors brought fresh and diverse perspectives, new ideas and community connections, while building future talent pathways and expanding their newsroom’s digital content capacity. More than a third of the 2025 participating publishers said they would continue to provide paid work to the young journalists after the program ended.
If your newsroom would like to be part of this exciting initiative in 2026, we encourage you to apply now.
“I loved meeting and working with young people. I’d recommend it to all publishers and would like to give ongoing assignments to both our chosen participants.”
Genevieve Swart, The Illawarra Flame
Eligibility
Applicant newsrooms must be:
- Current LINA members.
- Based in New South Wales.
- Able to recruit and mentor two participants aged 15-25 from their local community.
- Willing to support participants throughout the program and publish their completed stories.
Participating newsrooms receive $3,000 (inc. GST) to support delivery of the program, including:
- $1,000 publication support, paid on completion and publication of the participants’ work.
- $2,000 mentoring and hosting fee, paid at the commencement of the project.
Participating young journalists receive a small payment for their work.
How to apply
Complete the application form below by 14 August 2026.
Please note: if you have multiple newsrooms you want to apply for, you’ll need to submit one application per newsroom.