Many of the government policies that shape our media are outdated, racist, and prioritize companies over communities. Bad policies have pushed women and people of color out of media ownership, allowed social media policies to grow unchecked, and made the internet less open and accessible. This makes it even more difficult for people to learn about local elections and be involved in their communities.

We are supporting a movement led by communities of color who advocate for policies that ensure all people can build, enjoy, and access media and technology that meets their needs and serves them.

The Equitable and Civic Infrastructure Initiative invests in organizations led by people of color working on:

• Federal policy research and advocacy
• State and local organizing
• Communications and storytelling campaigns

Democracy Fund Editorial Firewall Policy

We adhere to a strict policy to honor the editorial independence of all our journalism grantees.

When a grantee approaches a member of our staff for comment, we will:

• Require them to go through our communications team — not a program officer.
• Alert the reporter of the funding relationship.
• Request that if they quote a member of our team, they disclose our funding of their organization in any story produced.

As part of our grant agreements, Democracy Fund communications staff will not:

• Send pitches to the nonprofit newsrooms we support.
• Discuss editorial content with journalism grantees or otherwise seek to influence their coverage.

We may alert newsroom leadership of Democracy Fund developments and news during regular engagement with grantees.