This morning, ProPublica and Digital First Media announced a partnership where the two news organizations will work together to develop local stories in markets across the country using ProPublica’s national news applications databases.  Under the agreement, MediaNews Group and Journal Register Company newspapers will have pre-publication access to most ProPublica news applications, enabling them to use data from those apps to quickly publish local stories.

In a press release, Digital First Media’s Editor-in-Chief Jim Brady said, “As we look to solidify our commitment to local investigative and enterprise journalism, partnering with a world-class organization like ProPublica was a slam-dunk.  The ability to work together to localize stories of national importance is something we’re tremendously excited about.”

ProPublica’s General Manager Richard Tofel added, “ProPublica is delighted to be working with Digital First and the MediaNews and Journal Register newspapers.  This agreement will strengthen the impact of ProPublica’s successful news applications, such as Dollars for Docs, by making it easier for leading local news organizations to use ProPublica’s industry-leading news apps as the basis for strong and distinctive local journalism.”

Digital First Media jointly manages MediaNews Group and the Journal Register Company.  MediaNews Group is the second largest newspaper company in America, publishing 57 daily newspapers in the U.S. and more than 100 non-daily publications in 11 states.  The Journal Register Company is a leader in local news, publishing more than 350 multi-platform products reaching 21 million people each month.