Talking to Local Foundations about Journalism and Media Grants
June 28, 2011
What do local and community foundations think about journalism and media? What questions and concerns do they have about supporting media? Gaining insight into the answers to these questions can help you make the case to foundations for support of your station and its work.
A new guide, Journalism and Media Grant Making: Five Things You Need to Know, Five Ways to Get Started, sets out to help community and place-based foundations “get started” in supporting media and journalism. The guide is produced by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the William Penn Foundation, both leaders in media funding.
In recent years, the Knight Foundation has found (and aggressively driven) growing awareness among foundation leaders of the importance of local news to their own work. In 2008, 41 percent of community and place-based foundation leaders surveyed by the Knight Foundation said that “useful local news” was shrinking. Two years later, 75 percent said it was “drying up.” Two subsequent surveys of community and place-based foundations in 2010 indicated that:
- 46 percent reported that their media and journalism spending was growing.
- 50 percent said they were now making media and journalism grants.
- 59 percent said they believed such funding would increase during the next three years.
Why? Because, according to the guide, “foundation leaders are learning that the quality of information and public conversation matters to their communities and it underpins the work the foundations are trying to accomplish.”
Foundations support media in many ways. For example:
- The William Penn Foundation has supported Plan Philly, an independent online news organization that covers planning and development, and works to engage citizens in discussion about the future of Philadelphia.
- The Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo convened a major community gathering to discuss local information needs and subsequently launched GrowWNY, a website focusing on green opportunities and environmental protection in western New York.
- The Pittsburgh Foundation is funding the launch of a new investigative journalism organization.
- The Alaska Community Foundation is working with Alaska Public Telecommunications to create a hub of local blogs aimed at bringing diverse voices to the airwaves.
- The George Gund Foundation supports coverage of the Great Lakes Region on National Public Radio.
The guide provides useful insights into how to talk to local funders about supporting journalism and media.
- First and foremost, foundations are increasingly interested in supporting media and journalism because they are seeing concrete ways that it advances their overall work and goals. The more that stations can draw this connection, the more relevant they will be to funders.
- Foundations new to media and journalism may need to be assured that they can make an impact without committing vast resources. Smaller grants can go a long way, especially in the digital arena.
- It’s important to talk openly about the editorial firewall. The guide is clear on this point: “Accuracy, fairness, independence – these things matter to journalists. You can fund their news organizations, but you can’t dictate their stories.”
- Awareness of the importance of community engagement – listening to the community – is growing within public media. Foundations can serve a key role in this area, bringing together diverse segments of the community to identify key information needs and catalyze partnerships.
- Traditional media (including public radio and television) are increasingly seen by foundations as one of several options within the journalism and media landscape. Many foundations are opting to support digital start-ups or other nonprofit news outlets in addition to -- or even instead of -- public radio and television. In this environment, it is increasingly important for stations to participate in partnerships. It’s also important for stations to demonstrate to foundations the unique value and reach of their own work.
