The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has awarded Media Impact Funders (MIF)—a member-supported network of funders who support media in the public interest—a $200,000 grant to grow the network of journalism and media funders with events and network-building opportunities.
Disinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 presidential election and other critical public interest issues have laid bare the urgent need for more philanthropic support of high-quality journalism, especially at the local level. With its history of convening journalism funders and catalyzing their collaboration and innovation, MIF is uniquely positioned to grow and strengthen this critical network of funders. The network has grown from a handful of journalism funders comparing notes in 2001 to more than 100 funders who meet regularly throughout the year to discuss some of the most pressing issues facing journalism today.
MIF will continue this work by recruiting community foundations, place-based foundations and family foundations and facilitating funder-only meetings throughout the year about local journalism opportunities, as well as foster the exchange of ideas and best practices.
This new grant builds on the strong relationship between MIF and Knight Foundation; in 2018, MIF received a $200,000 grant from Knight to advance the work of journalism funders, specifically strengthening support of local media, through a series of programs and research.
