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MIF Awarded Three-Year, $300,000 Grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

April 28, 2026 — Media Impact Funders

MIF has received a three-year, $300,000 general operating grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The grant supports MIF’s shift toward more coordinated approaches in a rapidly shifting media landscape, with public media, journalism, documentary and narrative ecosystems increasingly overlapping.

MacArthur’s investment will help advance MIF’s priorities to strengthen funder alignment, advance shared learning and support more strategic, collaborative investments in media infrastructure and impact. That means creating space for funders to move not just faster, but smarter, by linking resources, insights and strategies in ways that reflect the complexity of today’s information environment.

At a time when the challenges facing public-interest media are both urgent and interconnected, this funding helps position MIF and its network to meet the moment with greater context, coordination and collaboration. We are grateful to the MacArthur Foundation for their partnership and support. Learn more about MIF’s approach.

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Media Impact Funders

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Media Impact Funders traces its roots back to the Council on Foundations, a longtime philanthropy-serving organization. Formerly Grantmakers in Film, Video & Television, MIF began on a volunteer basis in 1984 as an affinity group for funders interested in the power of film to highlight social issues. Reflecting changes in technology and media behavior over the past decade, it was renamed Grantmakers in Film & Electronic Media (GFEM) and formally incorporated in 2008 to advance the field of media arts and public interest media funding. It had 45 members and was headed by former MacArthur Foundation Program Officer Alyce Myatt. GFEM was renamed Media Impact Funders in 2012 and has since expanded its strategy to include a broad range media funding interests such as journalism, immersive technologies, media policy and more. Since that time, MIF has grown to more than 80 organizational members representing some of the largest foundations, and holds more than 40 in-person and online events yearly.