When Vivian Schiller took the job as CEO of NPR, she told paidContent she thought NPR was uniquely positioned in hyperlocal: “Big news organizations spend hours wondering how do I create the hyperlocal presence, you don’t have the infrastructure. NPR can do it. It already has the trust and the infrastructure in every town and campus in America. I want to find a way to create indispensable local media hubs.”

That effort got a big boost today with $3 million of funding for a two-year pilot program that would provide about a dozen NPR affiliates with much of the financial and technological resources to do more original, in-depth reporting on topics central to their communities. Participating stations also will have to commit to covering part of the cost and sustaining the program after their grants end. The stations that will be part of the pilot haven’t been selected yet.