Money, Politics and Media Policy – Funder Briefing

Media Impact Funders and Northern California Grantmakers held a funder briefing on the role of media policy and its impact on the health of our democracy to discuss what funders can and should be doing in this critical area. Read the Storify from the day. Former FCC Commissioner Michael Copps drew from his experience at the agency to paint a stark picture of the current telecommunications landscape, the debates over net neutrality and related issues. While the possible end of net neutrality would be a serious blow to open communication and free speech on the internet, Copps expressed optimism that grassroots movements would be able to move the needle on this debate in a positive direction. Yolanda Hippensteele described how the Media Democracy Fund where she acts as Associate Director, was organizing philanthropy for this cause by pooling their resources. Targeted funds such as the Open Internet Defense Fund help focus philanthropic energy where it will have the most impact in the debate on media policy. Kelly Born, Program Officer, Special Projects and Madison Initiative of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation presented a newly released information resource,… Read More

Over the last decade, media reformers have been waging a series of high-stakes battles against news consolidation, the balkanization of the internet, and the explosion in political ads, and scored signature victories for local media control and freedom of expression. Read More