TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA) today announced that it has been named a 2021 honoree of The Civic 50 by Points of Light, marking the Company’s second consecutive year on the list. The Civic 50 honors the most community-minded companies in the United States. As an honoree, TEGNA demonstrates a national standard for social responsibility and driving social impact.

“The critical role local broadcast television plays in the communities we serve was more apparent than ever during 2020. Our people and stations helped meet the unprecedented challenges our communities faced due to the coronavirus pandemic, helping to raise $65 million for relief efforts,” said Dave Lougee, president and CEO, TEGNA. “When the racial justice crisis threatened to create deeper divides, our stations facilitated honest, inclusive conversations to begin the process of healing and change within our communities. The movement for racial and social justice and equality in 2020 also caused us to look inward as a company and take proactive steps to meet our long-term goal of making TEGNA as diverse as the communities we serve.”

Building on 2020 efforts, the TEGNA Foundation today announced it has awarded 96 local Community Grants in 28 markets in partnership with local stations and nine Media Grants in the first-of-two rounds of 2021 grants. A summary of all TEGNA Foundation 2021 grant awards is available here.

Many of this year’s grants are aimed at alleviating community concerns made more urgent by the impacts of the pandemic – hunger, housing insecurity, childcare, programs for at-risk youth, etc. – and almost 14% (13) are for direct COVID-19 community relief efforts.

The majority of Round 1 TEGNA Foundation Community Grants support the following UN Sustainable Development Goal areas: Good Health and Well-Being (32%); Quality Education (24%); and Zero Hunger (24%). Other UN SDG goals supported are: No Poverty (7%); Reduced Inequality (6%); Decent Work and Economic Growth (4%); Life Below Water (1%); Peace and Justice and Strong Institutions (1%).

Within these categories, several causes stand out as areas particularly significant to the communities where TEGNA does business, including:

• KGW8 (Portland): A grant to the Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center Inc. to support the project “The Kitchen,” a commercial kitchen, culinary academy and learning space in East Portland that will provide job training and entrepreneurship opportunities (including childcare) to the Black community.

• WXIA/11Alive & MyAtlTV (Atlanta): Four grants to support programming aimed at reducing inequality in the region: Children’s Museum of Atlanta, Georgia Justice Project, YWCA and Points of Light Foundation.

• KSDK5 (St. Louis): Four grants that are part of the Project 5 Community Series focused on making the region a better community: Dream Builders for Equity, Ethical Society of Police Charitable Foundation, FamilyForward and Mathew’s Dickey Boys & Girls Club.

TEGNA Community Grants are vetted by a committee of employees at each station, including the station general manager, and approved by the TEGNA Foundation Board of Directors. Stations also amplify the impact of the TEGNA Foundation’s charitable contributions through reporting and employee volunteerism.

In addition, a key role of the TEGNA Foundation is investing in the future of the media industry through the support of several journalism education and professional development programs each year. This year’s Round 1 Media Grant recipients include the following organizations and projects:

• Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA): Student programs JCamp and Voices.

• National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ): A professional development session, “How They See Us: A Global Perspective on Black Men” and co-branding the 2021 Black Male Media Project.

• National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ): The 2021 NAHJ Student Project.

• Investigative Reporters & Editors, Inc. (IRE): Two FOIA sessions and the Media Lawyer Brown Bag lunch session at the IRE 2021 Annual Conference.

• Native American Journalists Association (NAJA): The “Covering COVID-19 in Indian Country” webinar roundtable series.

• NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists: The 2021 CONNECT: Student Journalism Training Project, a two-day virtual conference for LGBTQ student journalists, which will kick-off the organization’s upcoming Student Conference.

• Online News Association (ONA): Student and new professional scholarships for the ONA21 Annual Conference.

• Poynter Institute For Media Studies, Inc.: The Poynter Leadership Academy for Diversity in Digital Journalism.

• Radio Television Digital News Foundation (RTDNA): The 2021 Student News Project.

More information about TEGNA’s Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives and reporting can be found in our 2020 Social Responsibility Highlights report. To learn more and/or apply for a TEGNA Foundation Community Grant or a Media Grant, visit https://www.tegnafoundation.org/.

About TEGNA Foundation

The TEGNA Foundation is a corporate foundation sponsored by TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA), an innovative media company that serves the greater good of our communities. Through its programs, TEGNA Foundation helps to improve lives in the communities served by TEGNA Inc., invests in the future of the media industry, encourages employee giving and contributes to a variety of charitable causes. For more information visit www.TEGNAFoundation.org.

About TEGNA

TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA) is an innovative media company that serves the greater good of our communities. Across platforms, TEGNA tells empowering stories, conducts impactful investigations and delivers innovative marketing solutions. With 64 television stations in 51 U.S. markets, TEGNA is the largest owner of top 4 network affiliates in the top 25 markets among independent station groups, reaching approximately 39 percent of all television households nationwide. TEGNA also owns leading multicast networks True Crime Network, Twist and Quest. TEGNA offers innovative solutions to help businesses reach consumers across television, digital and over-the-top (OTT) platforms, including Premion, TEGNA’s OTT advertising service. For more information, visit www.TEGNA.com.

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