Help shape the future of philanthropic support for news
The first comprehensive effort since 2015 to assess the role of philanthropy in supporting the news industry will soon be conducted by Media impact Funders with support from The Lenfest Institute for Journalism.
Philanthropic Giving for the Future of Journalism will poll funders as well as both nonprofit and for-profit news organizations. The survey represents an opportunity to shape future funding support for news.
The project is led by Jennifer M. Preston, project director of the Journalism Funders Network at Media impact Funders.
“Philanthropy is proving to be a sustainable revenue stream for both for-profit and nonprofit newsrooms across the country,” said Preston, who is also a former reporter and editor at The New York Times. “With this survey, we will together generate data-driven insights that could help unlock more philanthropic opportunities for journalism. The success of the LMA Lab for Journalism Funding has been so inspiring.”
The independent survey will be administered by NORC, the nonpartisan research organization at the University of Chicago.
The last such survey was done in 2015 by the American Press Institute. The landscape for philanthropy support has changed dramatically in the past eight years. Many more news organizations and many more funders are now engaged in the effort to sustain essential journalism.
The LMA Lab for Journalism Funding, enabled with support from Google News Initiative, launched in September 2020 specifically to address this opportunity. Since launch, 70 newsrooms have raised more than $17 million to support local reporting projects.
Members of LMA, including for-profit news organizations, have had remarkable success in developing philanthropy as another pillar to support local journalism. Local reporting projects that advance the public good are essential to capture in this updated survey.
Click here to opt in to be included in the survey.