COLLEGE PARK — Board of Visitors member Ralph Crosby ’56 has generously donated $100,000 to support the Local News Network at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism.
Crosby’s gift establishes the Local News Network Endowed Student Support Fund in Journalism and supports the Local News Initiative Current-Use Program Support Fund in Journalism.
The Local News Network Endowed Student Support Fund in Journalism will support students in perpetuity starting in 2025-26. The current-use fund will begin supporting students immediately.
To follow Crosby’s lead and help Merrill College support local news, especially March 5 on UMD’s Giving Day, you can contribute to these funds at go.umd.edu/GivingDay25.
LNN aids news outlets throughout Maryland by creating important localized news content and by teaming those news outlets with student reporters. The college created the Local News Network to strengthen local coverage throughout Maryland while providing students with invaluable reporting experience.
LNN has produced multiple projects of value to Marylanders, including county-by-county school board election voter guides, an examination of the lack of child care opportunities in the state and an in-depth look at the education reform legislation passed by the state government. It also conducted the inaugural Maryland Local News Ecosystem Study in 2024.
The Local News Network offers an internship program that provides stipends to several students each summer to intern at a local news outlet. Students typically pursue those internships after their sophomore or junior year. The stipends cover living expenses and summer tuition credits.
Crosby’s investment in Merrill College’s work on local news follows the $3 million gift from the Andrew and Julie Klingenstein Family Fund to endow LNN Director Jerry Zremski’s faculty position.
Crosby, a Merrill College Hall of Famer, put together a multifaceted career as a journalist, author and marketer. He began his career as a reporter at a Baltimore daily newspaper, then went to Washington as a White House correspondent for national magazines during the Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson presidencies.
He culminated his journalistic career in 1972 as an editor with the Kiplinger organization. Crosby left journalism to start his own advertising/public relations company, Crosby Marketing Communications, which has grown to be a leader in the industry. He has served on Merrill College’s board of visitors for 30 years, and has endowed numerous scholarships for Merrill students.
For more information, contact:
Josh Land
joshland@umd.edu
301-405-1321