The mission of the Arizona Media Association is to futureproof Arizona local media and protect its critical role in community connection. Here is how we will make that come alive in 2024:

AMA-Funded Paid Internships + Recruitment:
As our most aggressive offering in 2024, the Association plans to allocate a large amount of funding to support more paid internships at local media operations. We will also fund member career fairs at state universities and continue financial support for limited college scholarships. Between the internship and recruitment funding, we plan to allocate more than $200,000 to our “next generation” efforts in 2024.

AMA-Funded Consumer + Sales Research:
Our Association underwrites an independent research study each year to get a new snapshot of consumer media habits in Arizona. Our data collection for 2024 starts in January. We know members need more information to understand today’s media use and make their case for advertising allocations, innovation and strategy evolution. The results of this study will be released in April or May 2024. The AMA will invest $50,000 to make this possible.

Statewide Marketing Campaign Support:
Sometime next spring, the AMA plans to launch a statewide paid ad campaign to promote the critical role of local media across Arizona. We’ll target audiences that don’t already consume local media. Our goal is to highlight the value of local media, the localism that comes with it and the unique role each of you serve in communities across Arizona. This will be a $100,000 effort in 2024.

Arizona Local News Foundation:
As most of you know, our Association has recently launched an Arizona Local News Foundation to help connect communities with more local news and information across Arizona. We are starting small with funding news internships as detailed above and plan to ramp up to bigger grants. In 2024, we are building a budget plan that targets $250,000 in fundraising and distribution.

Free Legal Support, Lobbying + Advocacy:
The AMA funds the only full-time lobbyist for all of Arizona local media at the state legislature, fighting any legislation that may impact the critical role of local media. We also set aside sizable dollars to fund legal battles and answer questions that affect multiple members, most notably for first amendment and news access issues. In addition, we work closely with Arizona’s congressional delegation in DC to fight for national legislation that supports local media. This effort will be a $150,000 investment during 2024.

Training, Inspections, Events:
We offer a free on-demand training platform for sales, content and HR. We also offer one-on-one training to help new AEs. Our broadcast members have access to FCC-compliance inspections and coordination support for the state’s emergency alert system. In the months ahead, we plan to re-evaluate how to serve each of you better with this training. It’s a $50,000 commitment for 2024.

If you want more information about any of these member services, reach out to Lisa Simpson at 602-252-4833 or lisa@azmedia.org.