Defining the Funder Role in the Future of Community News and Information
By: Eric Newton In: Philanthropy
13 Jul 2010What role do funders play in the future of community news and information?
It’s a question the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy asked in its big national report last year, and one the Knight Foundation has been posing annually to community and place-based foundations, the local funders with their fingers on the pulse of their neighborhoods and cities.
This year, more than half of the 135 foundations that responded to our survey— conducted by FSG Social Impact Advisors in conjunction with the Council on Foundations—said they were funding news and information projects for a total of $165 million. Interestingly, more than a third said they had increased their funding in the area in last three years and expected it to increase in the future.
The survey found that foundations also viewed this funding as a critical ingredient to effecting meaningful social change. The portfolio helped foundations reach their objectives in areas like health, education, and economic development.
We’d heard similar perspectives from winners of the Knight Community Information Challenge, a matching grant program to encourage community and place-based foundations to invest in news and information projects.
The views of the wider field suggest that local foundations are increasingly important components in helping communities meet their information needs.
Eric Newton is vice president for journalism at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
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1 Response to Defining the Funder Role in the Future of Community News and Information
July 14, 2010 | Anyclaret.com
July 16th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
[...] By Eric Newton 7/13/10 What role do funders play in the future of community news and information? The vice president for journalism at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation shares insights on the role of philanthropy in meeting communities’ information needs.Read full text. [...]