IP Briefing: What's Going on with Philanthropy for Journalism and Public Media?

In a sentence: With for-profit media continuing to decline and widespread concerns about misinformation and the importance of trusted news, philanthropic support for journalism and media has been on the rise.

What’s going on

The role of philanthropy in journalism and media is growing. As recently as the 1990s, the journalism and funding ecosystem consisted of only a few major foundations and donors—and for-profit news was still a profitable business. But since the mid-2000s, revenues in the news business have plummeted, social media and misinformation have exploded, and philanthropy has responded.

As we reported in this recent State of American Philanthropy paper, support for nonprofit journalism has steadily increased in the past 15 years, with a big jump since the 2016 election, when funders started making major gifts aimed at combating “fake news,” boosting news literacy and restoring trust in the media.

The pandemic, the 2020 election and coverage of police violence and racial justice movements only continue to motivate funders to give—to combat misinformation and to support local news, investigative reporting, and initiatives that aim to diversify who’s reporting and which stories get told.

By the numbers

2,100 communities have lost their local newspapers since 2004.
The Institute for Nonprofit News found that of the approximately 200 nonprofit news organizations in the U.S., three-quarters launched between 2008 and 2018.
Foundation and donor-advised support for journalism and media outlets rose 37% from 2014 to 2018, according to Candid.

Key funders

Leading grantmakers in this area include the John S. and James L. Knight, Ford, Andrew W. Mellon, Bill and Melinda Gates, and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur foundations. The Lenfest Institute for Journalism is another important player.

Two of the largest corporate funders in this area—Google and Facebook—are also some of the biggest proliferators of misinformation. “Some peer funders say that until these companies de-escalate incendiary and inaccurate content, their sizable donations aimed at combating misinformation and mitigating polarization will only go so far,” Mike Scutari reported in IP.

Notable major donors include John and Laura Arnold, Pierre Omidyar, and Craig Newmark, whose Craig’s List had its own not-minor impact on revenues of local newspapers.

New and notable

Fundraising is becoming a bigger part of the news business. Newspapers including the Philadelphia Inquirer and Salt Lake Tribune have become nonprofits, and funders like the Knight Foundation are dedicating grant programs to journalism. NewsFuel.org lets media outlets search for grants. The Lenfest News Philanthropy Network supports fundraising professionals in journalism.
Important funders are prioritizing initiatives to advance equity in media and journalism. The Ford Foundation provided seed funding for Borealis Philanthropy’s Racial Equity in Journalism Fund. The Knight Foundation made a pivotal gift to support staffing and expansion of the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting, co-founded by 1619 Project creator Nikole Hannah-Jones to increase and retain reporters and editors of color.
The pandemic proved the importance of trustworthy health news, but some funders have been giving in this area for a while. The Kaiser Family Foundation created the editorially independent Kaiser Health News in 2009; it’s also supported by Laura and John Arnold. Other supporters of health journalism include the California Health Care Foundation and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Community foundations are getting involved to support local journalism. Media Impact Funders reported a 1,000% increase in community foundation giving for journalism from 2009 to 2018.
The billionaire-benefactor model for media has its limits. We looked at the Emerson Collective’s involvement in California Sunday Magazine and The Atlantic.

Food for thought

“Adding philanthropy is the new business model for local news that we’ve been waiting for.” — Steven Waldman, co-founder and president of Report for America, here.

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