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MACARTHUR FOUNDATION, JOHN D. AND CATHERINE T.

MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T.

Contact information:
140 S. Dearborn Street
Chicago, IL 60603-5285
Phone: 312-726-8000
Fax: 312-920-6258

Website: http://www.macfound.org

Type of foundation: Independent

Types of grants: Program development and support, general operating, fellowships, research, program-related investments/loans.

Description: John D. MacArthur was a businessman, real estate magnate and one of the country's wealthiest men. He owned Bankers Life and Casualty Co. of Chicago, the largest health and casualty underwriter in the nation, as well as other businesses and considerable property in Florida and New York. The Foundation is one of the largest in the world.

The MacArthur Foundation has supported public interest media since 1983. The Foundation supports the production and distribution of news and documentary programs for national public television, public radio and the web that help inform the American public about important domestic and international current affairs and policy issues. Programs supported by the Foundation inform and educate their viewers about important and underreported topics, provide balanced and accurate information, encourage global conversations and use technology to tell stories in engaging and interactive ways. The Foundation’s Media program makes grants in support of:

  • Documentary film: The Foundation supports social-issue documentary films because of their ability to inform, engage, educate and inspire reflection among a broad audience. These projects are generally widely distributed and relevant over many years. The Foundation periodically issues open calls for proposals in this area.
  • Public media and non-profit programs that identify, co-produce, broadcast and/or disseminate documentary films and radio pieces on important social issues: The Foundation supports organizations that crate and disseminate documentary content that is important for citizens in a democracy to see and hear (e.g., P.O.V., ITVS, Sundance, Tribeca, Radio Diaries and StoryCorps).
  • Noncommercial news production and distribution: The Foundation supports national and international non-profit news organizations that report, produce, and distribute news content for public television, radio and the web, These include programs on public television (e.g., FRONTLINE, NewsHour, and Need to Know), public radio (e.g., Marketplace) and the Internet (e.g., LinkTV, Global Voices), and also national investigative reporting organizations (e.g., ProPublica, Center for Public Integrity and Center for Investigative Reporting).
  • Innovation and the optimal use of technology for the production and distribution of excellent nonfiction documentary and news programs: The Foundation supports new and creative approaches to making nonfiction content broadly accessible and appealing. Examples include the Bay Area Video Coalition's Producers Institute for New Media Technologies and Public Radio Exchange.

The Foundation assesses the impact of its media grantmaking by looking at the reach of the content it supports (the number of people watching or listening). It also considers the judgments of experts in the field who evaluate the quality of the content (e.g., awards and recognition). In addition, the Foundation looks for signs of policy impact (e.g., content that leads to policy or legal changes).

The Foundation also has a special interest in how youth use and learn from digital media. In 2006, the Foundation launched a five-year, $50 million initiative to study how digital technologies are changing the ways that young people socialize, learn, play and participate in civic life. One of the outcomes of that work was the Digital Media and Learning Competition, an annual contest that makes awards to innovative digital media initiatives that advance learning among youth. In 2010, one of the recipients was Youth Radio (Oakland, CA) for its in-house Mobile Action Lab.

In 2013, the Foundation announced a Digital Media Challenge called Looking@Democracy (a project of the Illinois Humanities Council, supported by the MacArthur Foundation). The national challenge is designed to stimulate conversation on ideas and solutions to improve American democracy (including why government is important to our lives, and how individuals and communities can come together to strengthen American democracy). Submissions can come in many formats including short videos, audio stories, animation, music videos, public service announcements, infographics, graphic art, and Facebook and iPhone apps. Every submission must be digital so it can be shared electronically. The challenge hopes to attract entries from a broad range of independent media makers, investigative reporters, students, graphic designers and artists - anyone with creative ideas to help engage Americans and shift the political discussion in a fresh and engaging way. A panel of expert judges from media and non-profits will judge the submissions. Panelists include Maria Hinojosa of Public Radio’s Latino USA, Filmmaker Byron Hurt (Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes) and Ian Inaba, film director (American Blackout) and Executive Director of the Citizen Engagement Laboratory. Looking@Democracy will award a total of $100,000 in prizes ($25,000 for First Place along with significant prizes for 2nd and 3rd place as well as categories and awards for People’s Choice and Emerging Artists).

Sample Grants:

  • $4,750,000 over five years to WGBH Educational Foundation in support of the FRONTLINE and the FRONTLINE/World series and the expansion of the series' digital and online capabilities (2007).
  • $1,500,000 over three years to American Documentary for support of P.O.V. (2010).
  • $1,500,000 over three years to Independent Television Service to support the Global Perspectives Project, a program to bring documentary content from international producers to U.S. audiences, and from U.S. producers to international audiences (2010).
  • $1,500,000 over three years to Link Media (San Francisco) to produce and distribute Link TV's global news programs (2010).
  • $1,500,000 over three years to Independent Television Service in support of the digital conversion of ITVS production and distribution processes and the pilot testing of this conversion with the International Media Development Fund (2007).
  • $1,300,000 over three years to National Writing Project for professional development of staff in YOUmedia sites across the country (2011).
  • $1,250,000 over three years to Institute of Museum and Library Services to scale-up YOUMedia (2011).
  • $1,200,000 over three years to Public Radio International in support of general operations (2008).
  • $1,000,000 to Center for Investigative Reporting for MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions (2012).
  • $1,000,000 over two years to WNET for Moyers and Company, a new public affairs program hosted by Bill Moyers (2011).
  • $1,000,000 to Mozilla Foundation to develop and design a digital badge system for accreditation of learning and skills (2011).
  • $1,000,000 over three years to WETA Public Television and Radio in support of The NewsHour, a nightly primetime news program on PBS (2010).
  • $750,000 over four years to Storyville Center for the Spoken Word (New York, NY) for institutional support (2011).
  • $750,000 over three years to WNET Channel 13 in support of Wide Angle, a television series featuring documentary films on international issues (2009).
  • $750,000 over three years to Pro Publica for general support (2011). $600,000 over three years to the Center for Investigative Reporting for general operations (2009).
  • $600,000 over three years to Station Resource Group in support of Public Radio Exchange (2007).
  • $500,000 over two years to Minnesota Public Radio for Marketplace (2011).
  • $500,000 over two years to WNET for Need to Know, a new weekly current affairs program (2011).
  • $500,000 over five years to Window to the World Communications (Chicago, IL) for general support (2011).
  • $500,000 over five years to Chicago Public Media for general support (2011).
  • $500,000 over two years to Window to the World Communications (Chicago, IL) for the Chicago News Cooperative (2010).
  • $500,000 over two years to American Public Media in support of Marketplace (2009).
  • $450,000 over two years to Stichting Global Voices for Global Voices Online (2011).
  • $450,000 over two years to Sundance Institute for the Documentary Film Program (2011).
  • $400,000 over two years to StoryCorps for general support (2011).
  • $250,000 to Twin Cities Public Television for a documentary program designed to deepen the understanding between young people and their parents on how digital media can enable greater learning and civic and cultural participation (2011).
  • $250,000 to Public Radio International for general operations (2011).
  • $250,000 to Homelands Research Group (Gloucester, MA) for The Hunger Chronicles, a public radio documentary series on global hunger and food policy issues (2010).
  • $250,000 over two years to Association of Independents in Radio for Public MediaCraft, an effort to develop programming for radio and digital platforms (2009).
  • $225,000 over three years to Latino Public Broadcasting in support of Voces, a Latino documentary series on PBS (2009).
  • $200,000 over two years to Firelight Media (New York, NY) for the Producers' Lab and the Diversity Fund, a new funding program to support documentary film projects by emerging filmmakers of color (2011).
  • $200,000 to Global Kids (New York, NY) to build badge systems for the Hive Learning Networks in Chicago and New York (2011).
  • $200,000 over two years to Storyville Center for the Spoken Word (New York, NY) for The Moth Radio Hour (2011).
  • $200,000 to The Justice Project for Twisted Justice, a documentary film on Pennsylvania’s “kids for cash” scandal and the questions it raises about the juvenile justice system (2011).
  • $160,000 to Potomac Media Works (Washington, DC) for Easy Like Water, a documentary film about innovative approaches to education and climate change in Bangladesh (2011).
  • $150,000 to Chicago Community Trust for the Community News Matters initiative, a grantmaking program to expand the gathering and dissemination of local news and community information in the Chicago region (2011).
  • $140,000 to Duke University Center for Documentary Studies in support of Groundwork, a radio documentary series examining local policymaking processes (2011).
  • $125,000 to I Learn America LLC (Brooklyn, NY) for I Learn America, a documentary film about immigrant integration from the perspective and experience of five immigrant high school students and their teachers (2011).
  • $105,000 to Round Earth Productions, Round Earth Media (Minneapolis, MN) for Mexico Reporting Project, series of radio documentaries on Mexico's under-reported social and economic challenges (2011).
  • $100,000 to University of Southern California, Social Change Institute for the documentary film, Studio H: Design. Build. Transform (2011).
  • $50,000 to Public Radio Capital for a Public Media Audience Research Study (2010).

Fit for public broadcasting: The MacArthur Foundation has a long history of major support for public media. The Foundation supports public media projects and programs to help ensure a diversity of viewpoints and expand the availability of high-quality journalism and nonfiction content. The best fits are documentary films that reach broad audiences or news/information programs with national audiences. Most funded projects have national impact, reach or relevance. The Foundation has a strong interest in media projects that utilize innovative digital media.

Eligibility: The Foundation makes grants nationally and internationally, with some emphasis on Chicago. The Foundation does not support religious programs, capital or endowment funds, equipment purchases, conferences or fellowships, other than those sponsored by the Foundation. The Media program does not accept proposals for the following:

  • News and documentary programs that are local or regional in focus, except Chicago.
  • Media projects intended to advocate a particular point of view or policy position, or to promote a particular organization or field.
  • The distribution and/or outreach activities associated with a documentary film.
  • Film festivals.
  • Training programs.
  • General operating support for independent production companies or professional associations of media professionals.

Deadline: None for most grants. Looking@Democracy submissions will be accepting submissions through April 30, 2013.

How to apply: Media program guidelines are available here. Guidelines for the Looking@Democracy Digital Media Challenge are available here.

Key staff officers for the Media program are Media, Culture, and Special Initiatives Vice President Elspeth Revere and Media, Culture, and Special Initiatives Director Kathy Im. Inquiries about grantmaking should be sent to macarthurmedia@macfound.org. Instructions for submitting a letter of inquiry are available here.

Giving range: Grants in 2011 ranged up to $4.5 million.

Assets: $5,703,076,554 (as of 12/31/11).

Total giving: $239.9 million in grants and program-related investments (2011). Approximately $8.5 million were media grants.

View 2011 Annual Report here.