Nonprofit media and exposing injustice: How philanthropy can help
From time to time, events at the highest levels of legal and political decision-making in Washington shed light on the importance of nonprofit media and the critical role of philanthropy in the support of journalism. Last week, the United States Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Curtis Flowers for the brutal murder of four people […]
Podcasting for all
Podcasting is on the rise. Over 700,000 podcasts are available in iTunes with an estimated 90 million monthly listeners globally. No single entity controls podcasts, which means they are an accessible, decentralized, and democratized way to create content. Today, on-demand audio has dramatically transformed the way important stories and unheard voices reach us.
6 impact tools for every type of funder and media maker
Here at Media Impact Funders, we’ve been researching best practices in measuring media impact since 2013. In addition to curating impact-related tools, producing original analyses on impact trends, and publishing a monthly impact newsletter, we also convene funders to discuss impact, and conduct research on how funders are thinking about and assessing impact in the […]
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.
Listen up, grantmakers: Radio is a hot way to advance knowledge and culture
With the sharp rise of social media and the rapid collapse of so many daily newspapers in recent years, it would be easy to assume that radio is another traditional media format in decline. As more and more young listeners turn to music streaming services like Spotify and Pandora, predictions of broadcast radio’s imminent demise […]
Beyond the broadcast: The growing reach & impact of radio and audio
This week, media funders from across the country will gather at our annual Media Impact Forum to explore connections between radio and community, and how audio producers can spur civic conversations among audiences. We’re excited to showcase how one of media’s oldest forms of communications is reaching new audiences in creative ways—and garnering more funder […]
Program statement for the 2019 Media Impact Forum
We’re living in a new golden age of audio, by almost any measure. Every week, broadcast radio reaches 93 percent of American adults (228.5 million weekly listeners) and 30 million people watch, listen to, or download a podcast, up 157 percent since 2014. In public media, the top 20 largest public radio news stations together […]
MIF’s strategic planning process is complete
Late last year, we announced our participation in a strategic planning process to better serve the developing landscape for both our current and future members. This process, which included interviews with key stakeholders, surveys from our members and from our larger network, a scan of the landscape and more, took place from August 2018 through […]
As press freedom declines, philanthropy must address the safety, security of journalists around the world
Media philanthropy is a growing force on the global stage, with foundation support increasing significantly in recent years, more than doubling from $915 million in 2009 to $1.9 billion in 2015, the last year for which complete figures were available. Altogether, media grants amounted to about $9.9 billion in that span, according to a new […]
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
An intense examination of rape culture, Roll Red Roll focuses impact campaign on empowering men & boys to end sexual violence
The combination of increased news coverage of sexual violence and the #MeToo movement has made it easier for survivors of all kinds of abuse to come forward and tell their stories. Their bravery has shed light on a taboo issue that’s incredibly difficult to understand. The effects of sexual abuse manifest in so many ways—in […]