Stay up-to-date on the latest news, trends and perspectives in media and philanthropy.

As we prepare for our first in-person gathering since the pandemic began, the Media Impact Forum at the National Geographic Society on June 1, we have been thinking back to the last time we got together in person for our Forum—titled Radio Active Culture—in May 2019, at the American Philosophical Society, here in Philadelphia. In that program we explored the power of local radio to nurture cultural expression and build community, along with broader efforts of cultural organizations to use digital media to deliver content and programs. Read More

In partnership with Candid (formerly Foundation Center and GuideStar)—which provides data-driven tools, educational resources and trainings, analyses, and more to the philanthropic sector—MIF offered a workshop to help funders learn how to use data maps to inform funding priorities and strategic decision-making. These maps are free, interactive tools that show the full scope of philanthropically-funded projects. Read More

There’s a foreboding sketch of an hour glass with an image of a melting globe dripping through it on the most recent edition of h magazine, the semi-annual publication produced by The Heinz Endowments. The headline on the cover declares, “Moment of Truth: Action is Needed to Address Environmental Crises Before Time Runs Out.” Read More

The Wyncote Foundation, based in Philadelphia, was founded in 2009 with funds from the Otto and Phoebe Haas Charitable Trusts, at the direction of John C. Haas. A place-based funder, Wyncote is a strong player in the field of media philanthropy and believes deeply in supporting local communities by lifting up the stories and voices of those who are not usually heard in mainstream media. (In 2019, Wyncote made about $5 million in grants under its Public Media & Journalism program area.) On Wyncote’s funding strategy, Vice Chair David Haas—a decades-long supporter of MIF and former MIF Board Chair—said the foundation “takes an ecosystem approach, combining a strong commitment to accountability journalism with support for a range of community information needs and resources, creative storytelling, and independent media.” The foundation also works to inform and inspire other place-based funders. Over the years, it has produced several reports profiling local foundations’ grantmaking strategies and support for a range of media projects. Wyncote recently released a new report, “Culture, Heritage, and Place: How Media Amplifies Community Narratives,” which focuses on the work of media organizations across the U.S. dedicated to local and… Read More

A new report from the Wyncote Foundation that profiles eight place-based organizations that use media for cultural expression served as the backdrop for this important discussion highlighting how funders can celebrate “place.” Grantmakers, policymakers and advocates seeking to build support for local public interest media rightly focus on the essential role of journalism that equips citizens with news and information about politics, education, health and safety. Given the devastating impact of cutbacks in local newspapers, expanding diverse perspectives and experiences within mainstream reporting is essential to helping citizens participate in our democracy. But a focus on essential “public interest information” often overlooks work that fosters personal expression, celebrates cultures of locally distinct communities, or introduces the work of a local community’s artists to broader audiences. The Wyncote report, Culture, Heritage, and Place: How Media Amplifies Community Narrative, profiles eight place-based organizations that use media for cultural expression and connection with local funding support. These organizations gather and amplify stories, histories, languages, and arts that foster authentic narratives rooted in place. They help nourish a humane civic sphere, one that honors and celebrates cultural heritage and diversity of voice. We heard from: David Haas,… Read More

A new report commissioned by the Wyncote Foundation, "Culture, Heritage, and Place: How Media Amplifies Community Narratives," profiles eight place-based organizations that use media for cultural expression and connection, with local funding support. Read More

What should digital public spaces look like? For the third and final installment of our series exploring the problems and solutions of Big Tech, we heard from four organizations—Amara, Mozilla, Wikimedia Foundation and VolunteerMatch—that have built digital public spaces that serve all communities. These organizations, whose business models center on people over profit, strive to be inclusive, to inform, to connect, and to protect privacy. "These organizations show us that it doesn't have to be this way," said Alaphia Zoyab, advocacy director of Reset, who moderated the discussion. Read More

How can philanthropy invest in a more equitable technology sector as a means to combat some of the threats that Big Tech poses to democracy? Read More

This year was slated to be our year of impact. We started off with a bang in January at the Sundance Film Festival, where we released Decoding Media Impact: Insights, Advice and Recommendations, our impact report summing up seven years of research in the media impact space.  Read More

To further explore issues related to media impact and assessment, MIF is forming a working group of funders who want to strengthen the field of practice. Here’s a bit of background on how we arrived at that decision: MIF has been regularly tracking the field of media impact assessment for the last eight years. Every month, we compile the latest impact-specific headlines and write original case studies and analyses to share in our Tracking Media Impact newsletter. We also feature the latest and most popular impact assessment frameworks and tools in a searchable database on our website. This work eventually led to the publishing of Decoding Media Impact, our comprehensive report analyzing the current state of media impact assessment. The report was also informed in part by a convening with leading practitioners in which we asked them to identify best practices, assess the state of practice more broadly, and explore new ways of doing media impact assessment. Since then, we’ve explored the latest developments in impact production, including the effects that COVID-19 has had on the critical role of the impact producer. Our goal with this working group is to explore how funders can… Read More

As protests for racial justice continue in cities across the U.S., more and more institutions are publicly reckoning with their own roles in perpetuating systemic racism. In the journalism space, a debate about the concept of objectivity is raging: whose view is considered “objective”? Do “both sides” of an issue always demand equal weight? Some journalists are questioning the concept of “objectivity” altogether, and opting for “moral clarity” instead. Within philanthropy, foundations are being called upon to explore and correct their roles in upholding inequity. Read More

This is where you'll find recaps of each our six Media Impact Forum sessions. This year's Media Impact Forum paid specific attention to philanthropic support for environmental media and the need for our decisions to be centered around protecting our planet and its natural resources. The recorded sessions appear in chronological order below. Read More