The Knight Foundation is giving nearly $5 million to increase local journalism efforts in Middle Georgia.

Officials from Mercer University, Georgia Public Broadcasting and The Telegraph announced the new Center for Collaborative Journalism Thursday.

Starting next fall, the center will pair journalism students with working reporters. GPB and the Telegraph newspaper are partnering with Mercer to provide training to the next generation of journalists.

The Telegraph is moving its newsroom to a new building on the Mercer campus. GPB Radio in Macon is also using the funding for its operation in Middle Georgia.

Lake Lambert is the Dean of Mercer’s College of Liberal Arts. At the news conference, he said the program will be like medical school where students become residents.

“All of our students in journalism might have labs, and so every journalism course might have a lab component that involves them partnering with a reporter in the Telegraph newsroom or someone in GPB,” he said.

Money from the grant will help expand Mercer’s journalism faculty.

Tags: Georgia Public Broadcasting, Mercer University Center for Collaborative Journalism, The Telegraph, Knight Foundation