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21 Nonprofit News Outlets Send Joint Letter to Journalism Foundations

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Nancy West, founder of InDepthNH.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 1, 2023

21 Nonprofit News Outlets Send Joint Letter to Journalism Foundations

Asking for more money for the nonprofit news sector, general operating grants rather than project grants, and a focus on funding smaller outlets in news deserts

Press Contact: Jason Pramas, Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, jason@binjonline.org, 617-460-0848.

After an eight-month deliberative process, 21 nonprofit news outlets from around the US have signed a joint letter asking grantmaking foundations supporting the production of journalism for reforms to their funding strategies. The letter is being sent to top staff of over a dozen major charities this week and can be viewed here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1r5HWMJJyAJW0rEH3XHxhG5V0WQmsXZTsul1iZUf6vZM/edit?usp=sharing/.

The signatory outlets are proposing that:

  1. more foundation money overall be spent on the production of journalism by nonprofit news outlets (particularly at the local level with a focus on strengthening smaller outlets already operating in news deserts or incipient news deserts), and,
  2. more of that money be given directly to as many nonprofit news outlets as possible that can meet a low threshold of stability and integrity in the form of larger unrestricted general operating grants that can help those outlets survive and thrive rather than providing smaller, narrowly focused, project grants that can’t.

Meetings are being sought with journalism foundations after which participating news organizations hope to “work with them to create a new fund or funds to provide unrestricted general operating grants to as many nonprofit news outlets as possible on a regular basis going forward.”

Leaders of the following signatory outlets are available for interviews:

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