As of today, there’s a new media organization in Western Massachusetts. WGBY Public Television and New England Public Radio, both of which are based in Springfield, are joining together to create a new entity, dubbed New England Public Media.

With 78 employees total — all current WGBY and NEPR employees are expected to join the new organization — NEPM will have one of the largest newsrooms in the western part of the state.

WGBH, which holds WGBY’s broadcast license, plans to invest $6 million in the new venture over the next six years.

Jon Abbott, WGBH’s president and chief executive officer, said the rationale for both NEPM and WGBH’s investment in it is straightforward: By working together, the new organization’s journalists will have a bigger impact on the communities they serve than they did while working separately.

“The great thing about having one newsroom, and working on a story, is that if you commit to the legwork that’s required to get the story right … it’s so much more powerful, and reaches so many more people, because you can put it on multiple platforms,” Abbott said.

“Every dollar that you invest can go further,” he added.

According to a press release announcing the deal, NEPM “will focus on new content creation including digital music streams, multi-platform and digital programming, and community engagement and education.” The release also said that a new, daily, locally focused radio program “will be among the first initiatives the new organization will undertake.”

In the Boston area, meanwhile, WGBH listeners and viewers may soon end up getting a richer media diet, with ramped-up coverage of a part of the state that's frequently overlooked.

“We have the opportunity of bringing stories more comprehensively reflecting the commonwealth, connecting the commonwealth, bringing the stories of communities in Western Massachusetts to citizens and to audiences in Eastern Massachusetts,” Abbott said. “When you think about the future of the commonwealth and its governance, I think this poses the opportunity of having a more vigorous and vivid and thorough conversation.”

UMass-Amherst, which holds the broadcast license for New England Public Radio WFCR 88.5 FM, will continue to hold the radio broadcast license for the new entity. The aforementioned press release said the school was “actively involved” in the creation of NEPM, and will have a seat on its new board of directors.

Also slated to join NEPM’s board: the executive director of the Five College Consortium, which includes Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges as well as UMass-Amherst.

The deal still needs to be approved by the Federal Communications Commission.