Journalism’s funding surge: Philanthropic opportunities grow to address the complex challenges in the news industry

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The end of 2024 was marked by a flurry of announcements of investments and grants being awarded to news organizations across the U.S.

In October, Press Forward — the $500 million philanthropic collaborative local news fund — announced its first grants from its pooled fund, giving $20 million to 205 community-focused newsrooms across all 50 states. The American Journalism Project (AJP) announced extensive efforts in Los Angeles and Tulsa, Oklahoma, to create local consortiums of newsrooms backed by $15 million and $14 million, respectively. The MacArthur Foundation announced $20 million in new grants to 17 organizations, and the Borealis Foundation’s Racial Equity in Journalism Fund said they gave $4.2 million to 57 newsrooms that serve communities of color. With growing opportunities for philanthropy in journalism and complex challenges to address, E&P will launch a regular newsletter in February to explore these developments.

Evolving philanthropic support        

A search on Candid’s philanthropic database supported by Media Impact Funders identified over 1,400 U.S. donors giving to journalism and media in 2023. Those funders included national, regional and local foundations, community trusts, individual or family foundations and donor-advised funds (DAFs) from major firms like Fidelity.

For decades, philanthropy primarily supported Public Media and a small number of nonprofit newsrooms. New independent nonprofit newsrooms, like Outlier Media in Detroit and AfroLA in Los Angeles, have launched to serve diverse local communities in recent years. In contrast, newsrooms like The 19th and Capital B joined ProPublica to serve national audiences.

Dale R. Anglin, director, Press Forward, spoke alongside Jim Brady, vice president of journalism, Knight Foundation, and Courtney Bengtson, chief strategy officer, Wichita Foundation, during a panel on revitalizing local news at ISOJ at the AT&T Conference center on April 12, 2024. (Photo credit: Patricia Lim/Knight Center)

The Institute for Nonprofit News (INN), established in 2009 to foster the growth of nonprofit newsrooms, provides in-depth training to its members on fundraising and financial sustainability. It also has tipsheets and other resources on its website that are publicly available about fundraising and guidelines on founding a nonprofit news organization. INN’s annual Index analyzes trends among its 475 member organizations. The latest survey showed INN members had a mix of revenue. Foundation support accounted for roughly half of the income for INN members. Local and regional outlets clocked 43% of their income from earned revenue, and 50% of INN members grew revenue from individual giving.

Karen Rundlet, executive director and CEO of INN, emphasized the importance of diversifying revenue streams and cultivating local donor support for sustainability. “Philanthropy for journalism is wonderful, but there must be other levers,” she said.       

Rundlet pointed to INN’s News Match program, its annual fundraising campaign with its members to help raise money for their newsrooms in November and December each year. INN secured $7.5 million in pledged donations from 18 national and regional funders that will be split between 390 INN members. INN then helps those members fundraise for matching contributions from their community. It provides their newsrooms with email and social media templates and helps them organize creative campaigns.

“Some will turn $15,000 into $30,000. This is a great opportunity for our newsrooms to expand donations, connect with their community and build relationships with individual donors that can last longer,” said Rundlet. “The long-term support newsrooms need isn’t likely to come from national foundations; they will get longer-term support from foundations and donors in their own community.”

Reimaging philanthropic support

Nonprofit newsrooms are not the only ones securing philanthropic dollars. A 2023 report from Media Impact Funders and NORC at the University of Chicago found that two-thirds of for-profit newsrooms received some form of donor support, including direct grants, training programs or access to services. Many benefited from programs like the Google News Initiative, news support groups, and associations like LION Publishers, the Local Media Association, Lenfest Institute or Solutions Journalism.

In recent years, major national funders like Ford, MacArthur and Knight have increasingly focused on intermediaries that provide systemic support across the journalism industry. These organizations offer resources such as shared technology, audience engagement training and AI guidance. However, these programs often require significant time commitments from newsrooms and may not include substantial direct financial support.

These requirements can feel burdensome for financially and time-constrained small newsrooms. In response, a collective of small nonprofit newsrooms, the Alliance of Nonprofit News Outlets (ANNO), launched in 2023. The Alliance urges philanthropy to prioritize direct support for newsrooms. This call has prompted some funders to increase direct giving and reduce administrative burdens associated with training programs.

For example, the Borealis Foundation’s Racial Equity in Journalism (REJ) Fund focuses on financial support and training for Black, Brown and Indigenous-led newsrooms and seeks to reduce burdens on the newsrooms it supports. Similarly, The Pivot Fund takes a venture philanthropy approach, aiming to raise $500 million to support BIPOC-led community news organizations with funding, capacity building, training and collaborative opportunities. The Pivot Fund also conducts media ecosystem research to identify community gaps and share findings with other funders.

Alicia Bell, director, Racial Equity in Journalism Fund, Borealis Philanthropy (Photo courtesy of Alicia Bell)

“We have to reimagine journalism and journalism philanthropy,” said Alicia Bell, the director of the Racial Equity in Journalism Fund (REJ) at Borealis Philanthropy. Bell has a 360-degree view on the intersection of philanthropy and journalism as someone who grants funds to 57 nonprofit and for-profit newsrooms that serve Black, Brown and Indigenous communities, and someone who has to raise funds to support those same newsrooms with an eye toward longevity.

“We are beginning to look at how we begin talking about journalists as people and workers. [We’re also] thinking about worker justice support for journalists and security and safety issues for journalists and newsrooms. We are trying to figure out a rapid response for security issues, which includes finding grants to provide that kind of support. But those funders don't necessarily think of newsrooms and journalists in the U.S. as being in that portfolio. So we have to do outreach,” said Bell.

The American Journalism Project (AJP) is one of the largest recipients and givers of funds. They have raised $175 million since launching in 2017 and supported 50 nonprofit newsrooms. AJP describes themselves as venture philanthropists. While they support pre-existing newsrooms, their focus has evolved to launching new newsrooms and newsroom collectives like Signal Ohio and their efforts in Tulsa and Los Angeles, providing them with expertise from AJP coaches and specialized experts.

Sarabeth Berman, chief executive officer, American Journalism Project. (Photo credit: AJP)

Sarabeth Berman, AJP's chief executive officer, explained that the company’s program is high-touch on the business side but steers away from editorial involvement: “We’re laser-focused on the long-term sustainability of our organizations. We’re not funding these organizations just to do quality journalism. We’re funding them to become sustainable.”

Berman advises local newsrooms to focus fundraising efforts on community needs. “Local newsrooms shouldn’t necessarily look to national foundations, which think in short cycles and fund big infrastructure projects,” she said. “Instead, they should understand their community’s needs and make a case for how they can address those gaps.”

She also advises local newsrooms to consider how they approach potential donors and focus on their impact on the community: “First, you have to have a deep understanding of what your community needs, not what your news organization needs. What are your community’s needs? What are the gaps, and how will you help solve them? And you need to make a case for what your organization’s future looks like.”

Press Forward’s impact

Press Forward has been a major catalyst for educating and motivating funders, nationally and locally, to add journalism to their portfolios. "Yes, we are giving grants, but really, this is an effort to raise awareness. To get more people, those in philanthropy and members of the public — to understand the critical place journalism is in right now and how they can help,” explained Dale Anglin.

While Press Forward has a commitment of $500 million over the next five years from its core funders, it has a goal of corralling another $500 million in that time from other foundations, with a specific campaign to mobilize regional and local funders to the cause of helping support local journalism.   

Kathy Im, director of journalism and media, MacArthur Foundation. (Photo credit: MacArthur Foundation)

“Press Forward is, in many ways, a communication campaign,” said Kathy Im, MacArthur’s director of journalism and media and a key architect of the initiative. Im, who has been with the Chicago-based foundation for 25 years, recalled that they initially had a $3 million media portfolio that primarily supported documentaries when she began working at MacArthur.       

Over the years, she said MacArthur has grown its efforts in response to what it saw as retractions in journalism — first in investigative and international coverage and then in the demise of local news — and the rise of misinformation. Her portfolio, which is separate from Press Forward, now has 279 active grants and has committed $117 million. When they assessed what was needed across the journalism industry, they knew it would take a larger effort.

“It was clear we weren’t going to have the funds to help this by ourselves,” said Im. MacArthur, along with leadership at the Knight Foundation, began having sessions with others in philanthropy. It soon became clear broader action was needed. “We needed to get more people involved, foundations at the regional level and community groups across the country.”

Over the past year, the Press Forward team has secured commitments from more than 20 national funders. The staff has been holding and attending forums nationwide and helping set up 31 local chapters in 26 states. They have supported the local organizers in setting up their chapters and contributed up to $250,000 from the national funds to help them get going. Anglin said they expect three more chapters to come on board in the first few months of 2025.

Dale Anglin spoke with Press Forward funders at the convening of its local chapters. (Photo credit: Kamron Khan)

Anglin said they’ve successfully broadened the conversation about the local news crisis beyond journalists and foundations. Their meetings have included business leaders, chambers of commerce and elected officials to help them understand the vital role of local journalism. “If you want people to understand the need for local news and invest in local news, you have to target other audiences,” Anglin said.

Anglin recalled a productive conversation with local business leaders during a meeting in Iowa, where the idea was that businesses could start by reassessing their advertising dollars, ensuring they support robust local outlets rather than “ghost” publications that lack meaningful community reporting. “There’s a spark of hope in these conversations. When people come to these meetings, they may have never met together before. After we explain the issues facing journalism, they realize they have a shared interest in helping and want to get involved.”

“I think the Press Forward local work has been some of the strongest kind of donor education work, in terms of mobilizing community foundations and local, state-based or place-based funders to invest in journalism,” agreed Bell.

Diane Sylvester is an award-winning 30-year multimedia news veteran. She works as a reporter, editor, and newsroom strategist. She can be reached at diane.povcreative@gmail.com

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