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, Vice Chair, Wyncote Foundation
- Angelique Power, President, the Field Foundation
- Hugo Morales, Executive Director and Founder, Radio Bilingue
Learn how place-based funders and practitioners profiled in the report are producing media to animate and advance diverse program priorities and grantmaking goals in local communities:
