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Eight days after Salvador Ramos turned 18, he walked into his former elementary school armed with a legally-purchased AR-15-style rifle and killed 19 children and two adults—all within about three minutes. The mass shooting happened on May 24, 2022, at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas; it’s now the second deadliest school shooting in the United States on record. One year after the massacre, FRONTLINE, Futuro Investigates and The Texas Tribune produced “After Uvalde,” an investigative documentary seeking answers about how it happened, the botched police response and Texas lawmakers’ failure to pass meaningful gun control laws. The film follows journalist Maria Hinojosa, who speaks with Uvalde community members reeling from the tragedy and government officials who are advocating for and against Senate Bill 145 and House Bill 2744, which aim to raise the legal age to purchase weapons like the AR-15 from 18 to 21. “We do everything to protect these guns. Let’s just try something to protect our children,” a parent of a child killed in the massacre said while testifying in court. Throughout the film, harrowing accounts of the mass shooting are met with disheartening pleas to restrict gun control laws, begging the… Read More

Media Impact Funders has received a three-year, $300,000 general-operating grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, one of the largest philanthropic institutions in the U.S. Read More

It was great to welcome Media Impact Funders members to our annual networking event at the Online News Association conference last week, here in Philadelphia. We always enjoy seeing colleagues who support journalism and greatly appreciate the hospitality of our friends at ONA. It was touching to hear from the organization’s new executive director, LaSharah S. Bunting, who acknowledged that it was just a short time ago that she was sitting in the room as a member, when she was on staff at the Knight Foundation, and how pleased she was now to be welcoming us all to her conference. Special thanks also to our partners at The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, who invited us to convene our meeting this year in their Lenfest Lounge at #ONA23. And it was an especially auspicious occasion for us, as we unveiled the new research project, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago in partnership with MIF and The Lenfest Institute, under the direction of MIF consultant Jennifer Preston. Great thanks to the MacArthur Foundation, Arnold Ventures and The Lenfest Institute for their financial support of this important project. The conference itself was a powerful display of the depth and breadth of innovation and impact carried out by… Read More

A new study conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago in partnership with Media Impact Funders and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism that examines the role of philanthropy in American journalism found strong growth in support for nonprofit news over the past five years, an increase in funding to for-profit newsrooms, and a growing focus on communities of color. At the same time, the study reveals the need for more newsrooms to disclose donors and adopt clear conflict-of-interest policies to protect editorial independence and public trust. A total of 129 funders and 431 news organizations responded to the survey. The study received additional funding from the MacArthur Foundation and Arnold Ventures, and builds on the last comprehensive survey of funders and newsrooms in 2015 by the American Press Institute (API). Read More

For most of us, the notion of nuclear threat is impossibly abstract—even as Russia continues to threaten nuclear action against Ukraine and allied NATO countries. It’s not something people generally want to talk about. Read More

As a photojournalist on staff at the Detroit Free Press, Kimberly P. Mitchell was used to doing “quick turn” stories – snapping photos and short videos that encouraged engagement on the Gannett paper’s website and social media. Read More

We had the pleasure of attending the inaugural edition of the DC/DOX Documentary Festival earlier this month in Washington, D.C. Two films stood out for their noteworthy depictions of the importance of public interest media and journalism: Bad Press and Breaking the News. “Bad Press” follows journalist Angel Ellis of Mvskoke Media as she battles corruption in the Muscogee National Council and works to restore freedom of press in the Muscogee Nation. “Breaking the News” traces the launch of the digital nonprofit news start-up, The 19th*, a women and LGBTQ+ led organization that reports on gender, politics and policy. We’re not in the business of giving spoiler alerts, but both films had us on the edge of our seats with their suspenseful representations of what it’s really like to challenge antiquated, patriarchal norms in the newsroom and beyond. We also saw two film’s by director Pete Nicks, Anthem and Stephen Curry: Underrated, before attending a panel in which Nicks spoke alongside fellow documentary filmmakers about the state of the industry. He illuminated an innovative funding opportunity: building equity pipelines back to the communities… Read More

The 2023 Media Impact Forum: Stories of Community served as an important reminder of the robust network of funders, storytellers, journalists, and others who understand the importance of media for healthy communities. Held at KQED headquarters in San Francisco, the Media Impact Forum focused on uplifting voices from the news outlets and media organizations that are deeply rooted in community. Uniquely positioned to reflect local concerns and surface appropriate solutions, media that’s created in and reflective of the communities it serves plays a vital role in our information ecosystem, providing the means for cultural expression, discussion, and debate. Read More

Last year, the Associated Press announced an initiative to enhance the global understanding of climate change, its impacts, and solutions through quality climate journalism that is inclusive of local perspectives and contexts, and in places where climate is under-reported. The initiative created a standalone AP climate desk and placed more journalists in countries, primarily in the Global South. Read More

It was great to be back in Oxford, England, earlier this month for the Skoll World Forum, a unique gathering of donors and doers from around the world. From the opening courageous conversation between Carole Cadwalladr and Nobel Prize-winning editor and author Maria Ressa, one of the central messages of this year’s World Forum was on the dangers of attacks on press freedom and the corrosive impact of misinformation on all of the vexing issues undermining social justice around the world. Read More

For more than 10 years, Humanity United has been dedicated to cultivating the conditions for enduring peace and freedom. HU supports and works alongside partners who strive to advance human dignity and change the systems that enable violent conflict and human exploitation around the world. A member of MIF since 2017, Humanity United is part of The Omidyar Group, a collection of independent organizations and initiatives that pursue different ways to improve the lives of people and societies. Humanity United is focused on specific portfolios of work: Peacebuilding and Human Trafficking and Forced Labor, in addition to a cross-cutting Public Engagement portfolio. Its Independent Journalism and Media (IJAM) program operates within the Public Engagement portfolio and supports investigative reporting, journalism networks, and robust duty of care and support for journalists. Here, Liz Baker, Senior Director of IJAM, highlights HU's journalism strategy, its evolution as a media funder, and what the organization wants to learn alongside its peers. Read More