WATCH: How can election coverage be more inclusive and reflective?
The news media’s coverage of the 2016 presidential campaign was overwhelmingly negative and lacked in-depth explanations of the candidates’ policy positions. Misinformation ran rampant, and widespread disinformation campaigns successfully sowed doubt among citizens, which left them confused about who and what to trust.
A recap of our funder discussion on supporting journalists amid the COVID-19 crisis
Journalists are on the frontlines reporting on what citizens need to know to be safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Quality news at the local level has never been more important, but newsroom operations around the country are teetering on the brink of collapse in this new economic reality.
WATCH: The future abroad—journalism around the world
MIF is continuing the conversation around international media funding, a topic that is of growing interest to our members and supporters. Because the topic sparked such vibrant conversations at our recent annual gathering of journalism funders, we devoted our January journalism funders webinar to discussing challenges and opportunities abroad.
WATCH: Science journalism & going beyond the data
Scientific inquiry is being challenged as never before, and science denialism is increasingly prevalent, as efforts to propagate misinformation and disinformation grow more prominent. To reclaim and support the essential role of science in our society, funders are continuing to respond with a variety of grants that support the communication of science. In this webinar, […]
Highlights from our meeting on climate and the environment
Last week in Boulder, CO, we held a meeting to explore philanthropy’s role in amplifying attention to our global environmental crisis. It was 25 degrees and snowing, but thankfully we didn’t have to walk far from our hotel to eTown, our gracious host for the daylong gathering. The day before, the high temperature reached a […]
Takeaways from the 2019 Journalism Funders Gathering
This post was updated on Nov. 18, 2019. We’ve come a long way since 2001, when a handful of journalism funders got together to compare notes. (We’re looking at you, Jon Funabiki, Vivian Vahlberg and Eric Newton!) Last week, we convened more than 100 funders for our annual gathering to discuss some of the most […]
WATCH: Supporting diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in journalism
As philanthropy works to support the rebuilding of local news in communities across America in a variety of ways, many funders are also aware of this persistent problem: the lack of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in media organizations. Part of building journalism that serves everyone is ensuring that newsrooms look just as diverse as the […]
WATCH: Building on-ramps to local journalism funding
As funding for nonprofit journalism increases, how do we go from plans to action? How do we make the case for journalism funding to funders who think they can’t make media grants because of how their portfolios are structured, or who don’t know enough about the field to make impactful grants? How do we create […]
WATCH: Funding environmental journalism—the landscape, best practices & new projects
This month’s journalism webinar marked the second in a series exploring innovative ways to fund reporting on science, health and the environment. This time, we looked at the field of environmental reporting and heard about successful partnerships and scalable models.
The 2019 Media Impact Forum
Last month, we convened our annual Media Impact Forum at the American Philosophical Society—the home of America’s oldest learned society—in Philadelphia, where we paid special attention to the role of radio and audio in creating and sustaining crucial connections with communities. See the full program here.
WATCH: High-impact radio and audio journalism
This year’s Media Impact Forum placed special emphasis on radio in the context of community-making media and creative expression. As a complement to that event, we invited funders to join us last week for a conversation on high-impact radio and audio journalism.
WATCH: Reports from the international journalism community
Our latest Jounalism Funders Network webinar focused on the themes and highlights of a few big gatherings for the international journalism community: April 3-9—The International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy April 9—Media Impact Funders’ one-day pre-conference funder gathering at the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship in Oxford, England; April 12-13—The 20th annual International Symposium on Online Journalism (ISOJ) in Austin, Texas