“A draft bill that would form a partnership between the state of California and Google to fund in-state newsrooms and AI initiatives, as reported by Politico, raises questions about how nonprofit, service-oriented news organizations will benefit. Since 2009, the Institute for Nonprofit News has built a network of more than 450 independent, nonprofit news organizations in virtually every state. Without a guarantee that nonprofit news has a seat alongside those who will make decisions about the proposed fund, we can't be certain the interests of INN’s mission-driven news provider members will be protected,” said Karen Rundlet, the executive director and CEO of the Institute for Nonprofit News.
“Nonprofit newsrooms and the reporting they produce are an antidote to the problems of a misinformed, disengaged public. Newsrooms across the INN Network connect residents to quality information on issues in their neighborhoods, towns, cities and school districts. They report on local schools, government, roads and hospitals.
“To become members of INN, these newsrooms must demonstrate standards: you know who is donating to an INN member because we require financial transparency for membership. We review published articles to ensure that INN members are delivering fact-based reporting. In 2023, INN only accepted 48% of applicants and, over the years, we have turned down many questionable applicants. This is a far cry from the so-called pink slime websites that now pose as local journalism providers.
“We have a simple solution. There are 12 seats on the committee managing a similar public-private fund with Google in Canada. In California, there are only 7. More seats could be added to bring local nonprofit news outlets and the communities they serve to the table.”
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