The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a major funder of public television projects, announced plans to set up local news centers in seven cities, according to The New York Times.

The Times reports today: “The Local Journalism Centers, as they are being called, will each hire teams of reporters and editors, as well as community outreach managers, to report on an issue of regional relevance, including the reinvention of the industrial upper Midwest economy, efforts in upstate New York to attract innovative businesses, and agribusiness in the Plains.”

The story adds: “The ideas for what to cover came from the stations themselves, said Patricia Harrison, the president and chief executive of the C.P.B. 'These stations are looking at issues they think need a much deeper dive than they are getting now,' she said.”