May 15, 2024
Introduction The 2020 presidential election happened amid a pandemic and racial justice protests, and it was followed by an insurrection. What can we expect in…
Ideas
Explore insights, lessons, and resources from our work
Democracy Fund staff — alongside grantees, researchers, and other field experts — regularly develops resources and shares lessons on strengthening democracy. Here you will find guides, reports, and insights from our team and network.
March 1, 2021
Independent journalism is an essential instrument of accountability and critical to the health of our republic. Without it, the public’s ability to check the power…
April 9, 2018
Today Facebook announced a new initiative which will provide independent researchers access to Facebook data to study the impact the social network has on our…
February 22, 2018
A range of technological, economic, and cultural forces are putting new pressures on the First Amendment — a pillar of our Bill of Rights. The…
October 4, 2017
Today The Omidyar Group released a paper co-authored by me and two colleagues at Omidyar Network on the role of social media platforms on democracy…
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,…
March 28, 2017
A healthy democracy cannot exist without a vibrant public square, including an independent, trusted, and robust free press. At a time when news organizations increasingly…
March 12, 2017
Misinformation, hoaxes, and propaganda are nothing new, but the internet and new technology have made it easier than ever to create and share viral deceptions.…
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,…
September 26, 2016
The 2016 election cycle has been described as unique or like no other. Clearly at the Presidential level this election has been unlike other recent…
March 28, 2016
This week we released a visualization and accompanying narrative that seeks to represent the dynamics facing local news institutions and levels of participation of the…
January 13, 2016
As PoltiFact’s Angie Holan’s December 2015 op-ed in The New York Times, explains, even in the midst of a campaign season full of falsehoods and…
August 6, 2015
At the Democracy Fund, we seek to foster a more informed and active electorate by providing voters with the information, opportunities for engagement, and skills…
February 12, 2015
UPDATE: The NewsChallenge is open until 5 pm eastern on March 19th. Apply now! Today, the Democracy Fund joined with the Knight Foundation, Hewlett Foundation,…
October 16, 2014
This post is by Tom Glaisyer, Kelly Born, and Jonathan Kartt. Tom Glaisyer is the Program Director of the Informed Participation Initiative at the Democracy…
October 8, 2014
This post is by Tom Glaisyer, Kelly Born, and Jonathan Kartt. Tom Glaisyer is the Program Director of the Informed Participation Initiative at the Democracy…
January 16, 2014
Last year, the Democracy Fund convened a cross section of journalists, editors, and media experts to begin a dialogue about the major issues facing the…
April 1, 2013
One of our grantees Face the Facts USA has just wrapped up its daily facts. Check out the infographic below to get a sense for…
March 22, 2013
Previously in this space, Joe introduced our grantees working on making the political system more responsive and fostering bipartisan problem solving. In this post I’d…