Ecosystem News Archives

Report

Effective Place-Based Philanthropy

Prudence Brown

October 17, 2017

Democracy Fund believes that strong local news and a vibrant public square are critical to a healthy democracy. Today, local news is struggling in communities across America. Newsrooms, facing dwindling advertising revenue and diminishing trust, have been forced to shrink, or in many places, disappear altogether. While there are bold experiments to rebuild newsroom capacity in some regions, these experiments are unevenly distributed and precarious. The Democracy Fund local news strategy is focused on creating a more connected, collaborative, and sustainable future for public-interest journalism.

Because local news must be responsive to and reflective of the local communities it serves, we have designed our local news strategy around deep partnerships with local funders, journalists, and communities. We want Democracy Fund to be a catalyst for expanding local efforts to create robust news ecosystems. We recognize that in pursuing place-based philanthropy to strengthen local news, we are guests in other’s communities. We can’t do this work alone.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the roles and practices of national foundations undertaking place-based work. Democracy Fund commissioned Prudence Brown, a respected leader in place-based philanthropy, to provide her insights as we design a new program to support and strengthen local journalism and civic engagement.

Many of the themes and considerations in this paper are applicable to funders in other sectors. As such, we are sharing this work with the broader field. We think this is important both for the sake of transparency and accountability, and because we hope others can learn alongside us. This paper is just the start of our learning journey. We welcome any comments about lessons learned from other national-local partnerships.

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How Local-National Funding Partnerships Can Strengthen Local News

Josh Stearns

October 17, 2017

Democracy Fund believes that strong local news and a vibrant public square are critical to a healthy democracy. That is why our local news strategy is focused on creating a more connected, collaborative, and sustainable future for public-interest journalism. But we recognize that we can’t do it alone, and that partnerships with other foundations are critical to rebuilding a vibrant public square.

Today we are releasing a new paper that we commissioned to help us learn about how to build effective and equitable partnerships that put local stakeholders at the center of our work to support local news. The paper, “Effective Place-Based Philanthropy: The Role and Practices of a National Funder,” is relevant to funders and nonprofits working on a range of community development and engagement efforts.

We believe that the future of local news is local. That may sound like a bland truism, but it raises important questions for a national foundation who wants to genuinely and authentically support diverse local communities to strengthen their local news ecosystem. Solutions to the crisis in local news need to respond to local context and needs. We can and should learn from what is working elsewhere, but we should also recognize there is no silver bullet and that only through deep listening and partnership can we create meaningful and lasting change.

For this reason, we have designed our local news strategy around deep partnerships with local funders, journalists, and communities. We want Democracy Fund to be a catalyst for expanding locally driven and locally supported efforts to create robust news ecosystems. We recognize that in pursuing place-based philanthropy to strengthen local news, we are guests in other’s communities. We take that role seriously and humbly.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the roles and practices of national foundations undertaking place-based work and learn from past projects. Democracy Fund commissioned Prudence Brown, a respected leader in place-based philanthropy, to provide her insights as we developed our strategy.

Drawing significantly from recent literature and Brown’s own experience and observations, this paper is organized around key questions that national funders can consider as they develop new place-based partnerships. After each question, Brown provides a brief discussion and concrete suggestions for decision-making and action. While the audience for this paper is largely other foundations, we believe that the lessons here are also useful in empowering nonprofits and grantees.

Many of the themes and considerations in this paper are applicable to other sectors well beyond journalism and media. As such, we are sharing this work with the broader field. We think this is important both for transparency and accountability, and because we hope others can learn alongside us. This paper is just the start of our learning journey. We welcome any comments about lessons learned from other national-local partnerships to LocalNewsLab@democracyfund.org.

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Press Release

News Match Opens with $3 million in Matching Support for Nonprofit Newsrooms Across the Country

Democracy Fund

October 3, 2017

Washington, DC – This week marks the launch of News Match 2017, a $3 million collaboration between Democracy Fund, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to support nonprofit news organizations that play a vital role informing the public and holding those in power accountable.

News Match is the largest grassroots fundraising campaign to support nonprofit and investigative news organizations. More than 100 organizations are eligible to receive up to $28,000 each in matching funding for all individual donations up to $1,000. Donors can contribute between now and December 31st at www.newsmatch.org—the first one-stop platform for donating to nonprofit news. Donations can also be made directly to participating newsrooms.

Knight Foundation launched the inaugural News Match in 2016, helping 57 nonprofit news organizations raise more than $1.2 million in match donations. This year, in partnership with the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) and the News Revenue Hub, Democracy Fund, Knight Foundation, and the MacArthur Foundation will nearly triple the number of dollars available to more than 100 nonprofit news organizations. The Miami Foundation is serving as fiscal sponsor for the fund. In total, more than $3 million has been pledged to support state and local news, investigative reporting, and engaged journalism.

“We want 2017 to be a record-setting year for donations to news to ensure that innovative, nonprofit newsrooms have the resources they need to deliver high-quality reporting to the communities they serve,” said Josh Stearns, Associate Director for the Public Square program at Democracy Fund. “News Match comes at a time when journalists are facing a perfect storm of economic challenges and political attacks. A robust, independent press is essential to fostering an informed and engaged public and vital for a healthy democracy.”

“At a time when trust in media is at an all-time low, nonprofit journalism organizations are directly connecting with people to understand their needs and concerns, while providing vital news and information to communities across the nation,” Jennifer Preston, Knight Foundation Vice President for Journalism. “This initiative will help news organizations that are imperative to our democracy build resources and widen their supporter base, just when they need it most.”

Nonprofit newsrooms depend on donations from their communities to produce public-interest news. In the last two decades newsrooms have lost more than 24,000 jobs. By donating to News Match you can help ensure your community and the issues you care about get the coverage they deserve. News Match organizers are inviting other foundations to join the effort by contributing additional funding, and INN and the News Revenue Hub are providing support for local and regional foundations who want to match donations to newsrooms in their region.

“People are increasingly looking to nonprofit news to fill their information needs,” said Sue Cross, Executive Director and CEO of the Institute for Nonprofit News. “We need to continue that momentum and build an infrastructure that supports organizations that deliver fact-based, nonpartisan, accountable journalism.”

“The accountability and investigative function of journalism is essential for our democracy and it has been under-resourced for many years,” said Kathy Im, Director of Journalism and Media at MacArthur. “News Match endeavors to strengthen a free and independent press and help restore Americans’ faith in the news media.”

Donors can easily find and support trusted reporting in their community and on issues they care about. Organizations participating in News Match 2017:

Alabama Initiative for Independent Journalism; Anthropocene Magazine; Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting; Aspen Journalism; BenitoLink.com; Better Government Association; California Health Report; CALmatters; Capital of Texas Media Foundation; Carolina Public Press; Center for Public Integrity; Center for Responsive Politics (OpenSecrets.org); Center for Sustainable Journalism; Centro de Periodismo Investigativo; Chalkbeat; Charlottesville Tomorrow; City Bureau; City Limits; CivicStory / NJ Arts News; Civil Eats; Connecticut Health Investigative Team, Inc.; Connecticut News Project / Connecticut Mirror; Current; ecoRI News; EdSource Inc. ; Energy News Network / Fresh Energy; Ensia; FairWarning; First Look Media; Florida Bulldog; Florida Center for Investigative Reporting; Food and Environment Reporting Network; Fostering Media Connections; Georgia News Lab; Grist; Highlands Current Inc.; Honolulu Civil Beat; Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance; inewsource; Injustice Watch; InsideClimate News; Institute for the New Food Economy; International Consortium of Investigative Journalists; InvestigateWest; Investigative Post; Investigative Reporting Workshop, American University School of Communication; Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism-IowaWatch.org; Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting; Maryland Matters; MarylandReporter.com Inc.; Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service; MinnPost; Mississippi Today; Mother Jones; NC Health News; New England Center for Investigative Reporting at Boston University; New Hampshire Center for Public Interest Journalism; New Mexico In Depth Inc. ; Next City; NJ Spotlight; Northern Kentucky Tribune; NOWCastSA; Oklahoma Watch; Orb Media; Philadelphia Public School Notebook; Pine Tree Watch/ Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting; PolitiFact; ProPublica; PublicSource; Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting; Religion News Foundation; Rocky Mountain Public Media; Rivard Report; San Francisco Public Press; San Juan Independent; Scalawag; Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University; Searchlight New Mexico; Solitary Watch; St. Louis Public Radio 90.7 KWMU; Texas Tribune, Inc.; The Austin Bulldog; The Center for Investigative Reporting; The Center for Michigan; The Colorado Independent; The Crime Report; The Hechinger Report; The Hummel Report; The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute; The Lens; The Marshall Project; The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting; The Seattle Globalist; The Trace; The War Horse; TucsonSentinel.com; Voice of OC; Voice of San Diego; Voices of Monterey Bay; VTDigger; Washington Monthly; Wausau Pilot and Review; WBUR; WFYI Public Media; WHYY, Inc.; Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism; WyoFile; Youth Radio; 100Reporters; 365 Media Foundation

All news organizations participating in News Match must be members in good standing of the Institute for Nonprofit News. To be a member, an organization must be a 501(c)(3) or have a 501(c)3 fiscal sponsor, must be transparent about funding sources, and produce investigative and/or public-service reporting. Donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law. Visit newsmatch.org for more information.

✩✩✩About Democracy Fund:

The Democracy Fund is a bipartisan foundation established by eBay founder and philanthropist Pierre Omidyar to help ensure that our political system can withstand new challenges and deliver on its promise to the American people. Since 2011, Democracy Fund has invested more than $60 million in support of effective governance, modern elections, and a vibrant public square. For more, visit democracyfund.org.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation:

Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. For more, visit knightfoundation.org.

About the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation:

The MacArthur Foundation supports creative people, effective institutions, and influential networks building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. MacArthur is placing a few big bets that truly significant progress is possible on some of the world’s most pressing social challenges, including over-incarceration, global climate change, nuclear risk, and significantly increasing financial capital for the social sector. In addition to the MacArthur Fellows Program, the Foundation continues its historic commitments to the role of journalism in a responsible and responsive democracy, as well as the strength and vitality of our headquarters city, Chicago. More information is available at macfound.org.

About the Institute for Nonprofit News:

The Institute for Nonprofit News is an incubator and support network for nonprofit newsrooms, strengthening the sources of independent, public service information and investigative journalism for thousands of communities across the U.S. INN is the only organization in the U.S. specifically focused on supporting the emerging nonprofit news sector. For more, visit INN.org.

About the News Revenue Hub:

The News Revenue Hub helps news organizations build the trust and financial support of their audiences by providing customized technology tools and proven strategies to create and sustain successful digital membership programs. For more, visit fundjournalism.org

About the Miami Foundation:

Since 1967, The Miami Foundation has used civic leadership, community investment and philanthropy to improve the quality of life for everyone who calls Greater Miami home. We partner with individuals, families and corporations who have created more than 1,000 personalized, philanthropic Funds. Thanks to them, we have awarded over $250 million in grants and currently manage more than $300 million in assets to build a better Miami. As the Foundation marks our 50th anniversary, we are celebrating great Miamians who have championed what matters to them, encouraging all residents to share their Miami stories and unite around the causes they care about. For more, visit miamifoundation.org

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Blog

News Match Launches With $3 Million in Matching Funds for Nonprofit Newsrooms Across the Country

Josh Stearns

October 2, 2017

Today three foundations are putting up $3 million in matching dollars and inviting the nation to stand up and support local news and investigative reporting. The News Match fund is a collaboration between Democracy Fund, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

News Match is the largest grassroots fundraising campaign ever to support nonprofit and investigative news organizations. Across the country, 110 newsrooms are participating. Together we want 2017 to be a record-setting year for donations to news to ensure that innovative, nonprofit newsrooms have the resources they need to deliver high-quality reporting to the communities they serve. Donors can contribute up to $1,000 between now and December 31, and every donation will be matched, up to a total of $27,000 per organization.

Why News Match, Why Now?

News Match comes at a time when journalists are facing a perfect storm of economic challenges and political attacks. A robust, independent press is essential to fostering an informed and engaged public and vital for a healthy democracy. The News Match fund launches today with $3 million but was built as a platform for other foundations and donors to join. National funders can contribute to increasing the matching fund and local funders can partner to match donations just to newsrooms in their area. Find out more about how funders can work with News Match here.

New Ways to Support Quality News

Launching alongside News Match is a new website— www.newsmatch.org—the first one-stop platform for donating to nonprofit news. You can search for newsrooms by location or topic, and you can donate to multiple newsrooms with one simple transaction. The site, which is hosted by the Institute for Nonprofit News, is just one way News Match is building the capacity of the field.

The participating foundations have invested more than $750,000 in technology, training and communications support to expand the capabilities of nonprofit news organizations to build a more sustainable future rooted in community support. Building on the success of the News Revenue Hub, News Match participants will have access to new tools, workshops and coaching to fortify their relationships with readers and donors. “This initiative will help new organizations that are imperative to our democracy build resources and widen their supporter base, just when they need it most,” Jennifer Preston, Knight Foundation Vice President for Journalism, said in a statement.

Knight Foundation launched the inaugural News Match in 2016, helping 57 nonprofit news organizations raise more than $1.2 million in match donations. This year, with support from Democracy Fund, Knight Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation, News Match will nearly triple the number of dollars available and almost double the number of newsrooms who are participating. The Miami Foundation is serving as fiscal sponsor for the fund.

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Announcing News Match 2017: $2 Million Fund Will Match Donations to Nonprofit Newsrooms

Tom Glaisyer

June 21, 2017

This piece was co-authored by Tom Glaisyer and Jennifer Preston at Knight Foundation

We believe that journalism is essential to building informed and engaged communities, and that a healthy democracy requires a robust and independent press. For the last decade, as the digital disruption of the traditional business model for journalism has led to deep cuts in newsrooms across the county, nonprofit news organizations have filled critical gaps by providing vital news and information to communities, delivering investigative and beat reporting with pioneering models.

The future and mission of nonprofit journalism has never been more important as trust in the news media is at an all time low and people are searching for reliable news in their social and mobile streams. Today, the Democracy Fund and Knight Foundation welcome other funders and supporters to join a new matching gifts fund to support nonprofit news. Democracy Fund and Knight Foundation are pledging $2 million in 2017 to kick off a campaign to support nonprofit journalism, with an additional $750,000 committed to help nonprofit organizations build the capability and capacity they need to put them on the path of sustainability.

The new fund builds on the success of last fall’s Knight News Match, which helped 57 nonprofit news organizations across the country raise more than $1.2 million in matching donations from small donors. This year’s effort significantly expands the number of newsrooms eligible to participate and increases opportunities for both place-based and national foundations to support the matching gifts program.

The objective of this fund is to support nonprofit newsrooms delivering local, beat and investigative reporting. To be eligible to participate, nonprofit newsrooms must be full members of the Institute for Nonprofit News in September 2017. The program will begin in the fall so that the matching gifts program can be used as a way to reach new donors and appeal to recent donors during the critical end-of-year fundraising season.

To support the matching gifts program and help put nonprofit news on the path to sustainability, Democracy Fund and Knight have committed $750,000 dollars to support the most effective strategies, tools and best practices for long-term sustainability. These investments will allow the Institute for Nonprofit News, Local Independent Online News, and the News Revenue Hub to help local newsrooms expand their donor base, develop successful membership programs, and make the case for supporting journalism in their communities.

We believe this is a profoundly important moment for journalism in America. Our communities and our country need journalism that reflects and responds to the diverse needs of all Americans. In the face of the hollowing out of the traditional industry, nonprofit news sites offer a chance to restore local coverage and deliver expert beat reporting, but they require the support of their communities. Whether you can give five dollars or five hundred to the participating nonprofit news organization of your choice, News Match will double it.

More details about the fund will be announced in the fall. In the meantime, Democracy Fund and Knight Foundation will continue to invite additional partners to join the fund, especially community and place-based foundations who recognize that news and information is an indispensable community asset, and want to leverage the fund to further amplify support.

For questions about the News Match fund contact:

Josh Stearns at Democracy Fund, jstearns@democracyfund.org

Jennifer Preston at Knight Foundation, preston@knightfoundation.org

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Report

Communities Of Practice

Angelica Das Edited By Jessica Clark

April 26, 2017

At a time when news and journalism are experiencing significant disruption, Democracy Fund is seeking to better understand and equip news outlets and reporters for public engagement. Individual newsrooms are ill-equipped to deal with large-scale transformations in platforms, news economics, and audience habits. Culture shifts are difficult to achieve and often happen from the bottom up or the outside in. We recognize that new solutions are needed across organizations that can be compared, replicated, scaled, and evaluated.

Communities of Practice (CoPs) provide a structure in which this activity can happen adjacent to or outside of legacy settings. This paper examines the theory and evolution of CoPs and explores in greater detail the nascent CoPs developing around engaged journalism. The appendix provides a checklist for building and grouping CoPs.

Democracy Fund is committed to supporting a vibrant media and the public square. By examining how CoPs have developed in the field of engaged journalism to date, we can better understand how a community of practice provides useful structures for learning, growth, and innovation. We can also learn how the ideas can be applied to other communities in journalism, including leaders at local news hubs, media business innovators, and other cohorts where new practices are emerging.

We welcome your feedback on these ideas and look forward to hearing more from you about how communities of practice are being adopted in your newsrooms and communities.

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Report

Pathways To Engagement

Angelica Das, Edited By Jessica Clark

April 25, 2017

Journalists are working with their communities in a range of new ways that are reshaping how newsrooms report, publish, and pay the bills. This emerging trend has roots in past journalism industry movements but has taken on unique contours in the digital age. As Democracy Fund seeks to support new tools and practices that can expand community engagement in journalism, we wanted to understand the landscape of the field in more detail. We commissioned this paper to help us create a taxonomy of engagement practices.

In this paper, we have documented a broad spectrum of efforts that help position communities at the center of journalism. Different approaches are outlined, along with useful examples from the field. We don’t seek to prioritize or rank these different models, but rather understand that each meets different newsroom goals and community needs. Together, we refer to the full spectrum of ideas presented here as “Engaged Journalism.”

Engagement is an emergent practice in journalism although it has been explored and debated for years in other fields, which have invested greatly in documenting, training, and supporting innovation and best practices. But as newsrooms grapple with these ideas anew, it is to be expected that the language they use will be a bit of a contested terrain. It is in language where we hash out the core ideas that shape how we operate in the world.

We undertook this study of engagement to clarify our own thinking, not to enforce a uniformity on others. We hope our taxonomy will be of use to the field, but we also see the value in continuing to push and pull on the meanings behind the words we use. We also welcome your feedback on these ideas and look forward to hearing more stories about how engagement is understood in your newsroom and community.

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Press Release

NewsMatch Raises $4.8 Million for Nonprofit News

Democracy Fund

February 14, 2017

Record-breaking year for individual giving to nonprofit newsrooms in 2017

Washington, D.C. — NewsMatch 2017 raised more than $4.8 million from individual donors and a coalition of foundations to support more than 100 local and investigative nonprofit news organizations. This makes NewsMatch 2017 the largest-ever grassroots fundraising campaign to support local nonprofit and investigative news, during a record-breaking year overall for charitable giving to journalism.

Data from NewsMatch also reveals the growing strength of news nonprofits’ year-end fundraising campaigns, a critical indicator of financial success. More people than ever before stepped up to donate to nonprofit journalism, investing in trustworthy local news from coast to coast.

Year-End Giving by the Numbers:
Year-end giving numbers include all gifts from individual donors to NewsMatch participating organizations, not just those eligible for matching funds.

In total, more than 202,000 individual donors contributed $33 million to nonprofit news in October, November and December
The average year-end donor gave $163
43,000 donors gave to a nonprofit news organization for the first time in Q4 2017
25 local and national foundations and donors offered year-end matching grants

“With the support of NewsMatch we had a record setting year, more than doubling the donations we received in past years,” said Lauren Fuhrmann of the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism. “NewsMatch provided the roadmap, tech support and national exposure that we needed to have our most successful year-end fundraising drive ever.”

The NewsMatch campaign equipped nonprofit newsrooms with professional fundraising tools, technology and training to cultivate new donors through the Institute for Nonprofit News and the News Revenue Hub. Additionally, a national marketing campaign educated the public on the importance of nonprofit journalism becoming a core part of charitable year-end giving. NewsMatch’s impact will be felt throughout the year by communities who rely on these newly resilient, critical news organizations.

“A robust, independent press is essential to fostering an informed and engaged public and vital for a healthy democracy,” said Josh Stearns of Democracy Fund. “By working collaboratively with newsrooms and philanthropic partners, NewsMatch was an innovative local-to-national campaign that brought thousands of new donors into supporting local and investigative journalism.”

“The growth of NewsMatch is a testament to the critical role of local news and investigative journalism in our country right now,” said Jennifer Preston, vice president for journalism at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Knight launched the first NewsMatch in 2016, helping 57 nonprofit news organizations raise more than $1.2 million in match donations.

NewsMatch 2017 involved more than 25 funders around the country. It was established as a partnership between the Democracy Fund, Knight Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and managed by The Miami Foundation. Over the course of the fall, the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, the News Integrity Initiative, the Wyncote Foundation, The Gates Family Foundation, and the Rita Allen Foundation all joined NewsMatch as partners creating double and triple matches for some organizations. Finally, local newsrooms worked with donors and local funders to set up parallel matching campaigns in their communities.

NewsMatch elevated nonprofit news through #GivingNewsDay which saw journalists, celebrities and politicians on both sides of the aisle talking about the importance of donating to nonprofit news. Mark Ruffalo, Michael Kelly, Cara Mund (Miss America), Greta Van Susteren and others joined the effort. Facebook donated $100,000 in free advertising to publicize NewsMatch and drive donors to local and investigative newsrooms.

“One of the most important things we can do is increase awareness about the need for and benefits of nonprofit journalism. That is, to add to the usual American philanthropic checklist of schools, hospitals, churches and cultural institutions the possibility of donating to journalism. NewsMatch helped enormously in that effort,” said Richard Tofel, president of Pulitzer Prize-winning nonprofit news organization ProPublica.

“We are so grateful to NewsMatch for its support of local media. NewsMatch.org provided a very rich donor experience and it was a great way for us to start our end-of-year fundraising campaign,” said Phayvanh Luekhamhan of VTDigger. “Thanks to NewsMatch we were able to raise over $350,000 from October through December. This means that in the coming year we can continue to grow our revenue streams, hire reporters and publish the kind of in-depth and daily reporting that Vermonters need.”

All news organizations participating in NewsMatch are members in good standing of the Institute for Nonprofit News. Visit newsmatch.org for more information.

# # #

About the Institute for Nonprofit News:
The Institute for Nonprofit News is an incubator and support network for nonprofit newsrooms, strengthening the sources of independent, public service information and investigative journalism for thousands of communities across the U.S. INN is the only organization in the U.S. specifically focused on supporting the emerging nonprofit news sector. For more, visit INN.org.

About Democracy Fund:
The Democracy Fund is a bipartisan foundation established by eBay founder and philanthropist Pierre Omidyar to help ensure that our political system can withstand new challenges and deliver on its promise to the American people. Since 2011, Democracy Fund has invested more than $60 million in support of effective governance, modern elections, and a vibrant public square. For more, visit democracyfund.org.

About the News Revenue Hub:
The News Revenue Hub helps news organizations build the trust and financial support of their audiences by providing customized technology tools and proven strategies to create and sustain successful digital membership programs. For more, visit fundjournalism.org.

About the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation:
Founded by Edith Kinney Gaylord, Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation’s mission is to invest in the future of journalism by building the ethics, skills and opportunities needed to advance principled, probing news and information. For more, visit journalismfoundation.org.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation:
Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. For more, visit knightfoundation.org.

About the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation:
The MacArthur Foundation supports creative people, effective institutions, and influential networks building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. MacArthur is placing a few big bets that truly significant progress is possible on some of the world’s most pressing social challenges, including over-incarceration, global climate change, nuclear risk, and significantly increasing financial capital for the social sector. In addition to the MacArthur Fellows Program, the Foundation continues its historic commitments to the role of journalism in a responsible and responsive democracy, as well as the strength and vitality of our headquarters city, Chicago. More information is available at macfound.org.

About The Miami Foundation:
Since 1967, The Miami Foundation has used civic leadership, community investment and philanthropy to improve the quality of life for everyone who calls Greater Miami home. We partner with individuals, families and corporations who have created more than 1,000 personalized, philanthropic Funds. Thanks to them, we have awarded over $250 million in grants and currently manage more than $300 million in assets to build a better Miami. As the Foundation marks our 50th anniversary, we are celebrating great Miamians who have championed what matters to them, encouraging all residents to share their Miami stories and unite around the causes they care about. For more, visit miamifoundation.org.

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Blog

Introducing the new Local News Lab

Tom Glaisyer

February 10, 2017

We don’t know what the future of media and journalism holds, but we do know that no matter what technological, economic, or cultural shifts occur, a vibrant and resilient press is central to a healthy democracy. This is a priority of our work at the Democracy Fund. As we pursue efforts to strengthen local news and participation we want to share what we learn, provide an opportunity to highlight the work of our grantees, and engage with the community of people working on these issues.

In that spirit, today we are re-launching the Local News Lab as a testing ground for the future of journalism. The site will be managed by our Public Square Program as a resource for those working at the intersection of media and democracy. It will be a site of inquiry, experimentation, and learning where the Democracy Fund and its grantees and partners will explore new models, tools, and practices for creating a robust and diverse public square. Through the Local News Lab we will share what we learn, invite your input, and shine a spotlight on the people helping make journalism more sustainable, collaborative and engaged with its community.

The Local News Lab was originally developed by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation through a grant from the Knight Foundation. The Democracy Fund was also an early supporter of the Dodge Foundation’s work. We look forward to building on their pioneering work developing an ecosystem approach to transforming the landscape of local news in New Jersey and continuing to work with them as partners on this site.

As an introduction to the work of the Local News Lab, check out these featured posts and research:

Read the latest from the Lab: dive into a topic of your choice from community engagement to business models to philanthropy.
Let the Lab guide you: our new detailed guides offer advice on how to help newsrooms develop new revenue models.
Learn from the Lab: don’t miss this report on lessons learned in the first 18 months of experiments undertaken by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

You can still expect to find information about the Democracy Fund’s grantmaking around journalism, civic information, and participation here on our main website. The Local News Lab will focus, not on how to get a grant from Democracy Fund, but rather on what our grantees and partners are doing and learning in the world. As a systems change organization we are committed to learning, iterating, and partnering in ways that strengthen both our work and the field at large.

We understand that the challenges we face will take patience, and persistent and deep partnership. We see this as a chance to invite people into our work and be transparent about what we are trying and how it is working. Want to talk to us more about the Lab? Email us at localnewslab@democracyfund.org.

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Blog

In 2017, Journalists Have to Partner, Not Parachute

Josh Stearns

January 18, 2017

It might be tempting for national newsrooms, most of which are headquartered on the coasts, to boost their travel budget in the wake of the 2016 elections. A common refrain in the media post-mortems that followed the elections was that national journalists and political reporters need to spend more time in small, rural communities the middle of the country. It’s true, we do need a wider diversity of stories and perspectives in media, but parachuting into “flyover country” isn’t going to solve anything.

In 2017, editors who are committed to telling more diverse stories about American communities across should partner with talented journalists on the ground who know the history, culture and context of the places they work. National newsrooms should approach these partnerships with humility and a spirit of reciprocity. Both national and local journalists have a lot to bring to the table — see for example ProPublica’s work on interactive satellite reporting paired with the boots-on-the-ground journalism of the New Orleans Lens. Plus, at a time of limited and dwindling resources, collaboration can help outlets strengthen both the stories they tell and the newsrooms that tell them.

Heather Bryant, a Knight Fellow at Stanford University, wrote about this in the wake of the election. Rather than flying in national staff or setting up new newsrooms locally, she argues, “journalism as a whole would be better served by supporting and improving the newsrooms that might already be in these places.” The results of Bryant’s fellowship research will be a valuable contribution, surfacing new models and best practices for local/national reporting. Follow her work on Medium here.

There are already some great models*:

In 2016 the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University launched a local/national reporting partnership, staffed by Tim Griggs who has worked for New York Times, Texas Tribune and Wilmington Star News. The project is based in part on the success of an earlier project — Toxic NJ — a collaboration of ten local newsrooms working with the Center for Investigative Reporting to report on small toxic sites across the state. The New Orleans Lens, mentioned above, has been a leader in this kind of creative collaboration.

Last year the Center for Investigative Reporting also launched Reveal Labs which they describe as “a series of partnerships across the country to form networks that help newsrooms find and tell tough stories, connect them to those most affected and bring them to a national audience through Reveal.” In 2015 Nieman Lab reported on how Reveal was embedding reporters in local newsrooms to expand investigative capacity and bring local narratives to a national audience.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s Regional and Local Journalism Centers are bringing newsrooms together across state lines to report on shared issues across different regions. The centers are designed to both serve local people better and to “feed national public media news programs.”

The Knight Foundation has also funded a series of experiments designed to connect local and national newsrooms in ways that build the capacity of the smaller outlets. This includes the AP’s work to open up their data reporting team to work with local newsrooms and the Conversation’s outreach to connect local journalists and academics.

Strengthening local newsrooms is not just about creating a runway for stories to bubble up to the national level or creating a training ground for journalists who aspire to the New York Times and the Washington Post. Creating healthier local news ecosystems that better serve local communities is critical to people living in those communities, and to democracy itself.

In a prescient post from March of 2016 Josh Benton of the Nieman Lab pointed out how digital journalism has become concentrated “more firmly than ever in New York and a few other major cities.” There is no beat where that is more true than in political and campaign reporting. And that, Benton notes, has had “real impacts on the kind of news we get.”

“America is a big, highly distributed place. Our democracy is structured around cities and counties and congressional districts and states,” writes Benton. “Our media used to be too.”

After the election Benton reminded us that many communities have faced a dramatic erosion in community institutions. “The factories shut down; the church pews were emptier than they used to be; the braided fabric of their towns had unraveled,” writes Benton. And for many “the local newspaper was one of those key institutions — the daily or weekly package of stories that connected you to your neighbors.”

This isn’t to say that we should go back to the “good old days” of journalism. Instead, it is an argument that we should work together to create brighter days down the road. We are better equipped to do that by working together than we are on our own.

In the most recent Nieman Reports, Nicco Mele calls for the rethinking of newsrooms as “civic reactors.” He calls on us to imagine a role for newsrooms that can begin to build new kinds of institutions to replace some of what Benton notes has been lost. He writes: “A possible future for journalism is more in the mold of grassroots organizing, where the newsroom becomes a sort of 21^st century VFW hall, the hub of local activity.”

For national outlets, supporting community-driven news is an opportunity to reinvigorate the profession from the ground up and build new pathways for audience recruitment in the process. Rather than parachuting in, they can subsidize springboards for new talent and practice, and invite local newsrooms and communities to enrich national stories in the process.

This piece was originally published by MediaShift. Josh Stearns is the Associate Director of the Public Square Program at the Democracy Fund. Follow him on Twitter and sign up for the weekly Local Fix newsletter on innovation, community engagement and local news.