Lenfest Institute for Journalism

Before Monique Curry-Mims, MBA, MSEd, CAP® began her journey as the publisher and editor-in-chief of Generocity, she believed “if you want to do something right, you have to do it yourself.” But through the Constellation News Leadership Initiative, a professional development fellowship supporting mid-career media professionals of color, Monique’s leadership style evolved. Her focus has shifted to creating a solid vision for the company and giving her team the tools to bring it to life. “At Constellation, I learned the importance of collaboration and delegation — two skills that are essential to running a media company,” she wrote. “The program made me realize that leadership is not just about personal execution, but also about empowering others to bring their expertise to the table.”

When I moved to Philly to work at WHYY last year, I never imagined what being in the Lenfest Institute for Journalism's Constellation News Leadership Initiative would provide me with: clarity. Thanks to Sarah Glover, MBA for cluing me in to this program and major thanks to program leaders for selecting me. These are my reflections: https://lnkd.in/eNEarjuu

The Lenfest Institute is partnering with OpenAI and Microsoft to launch the Lenfest Institute AI Collaborative and Fellowship Program, which will help newsrooms harness generative AI to build more sustainable businesses. Lenfest Institute CEO and Executive Director Jim Friedlich spoke to Editor & Publisher (E&P) Magazine about the groundbreaking program, which will encourage experimentation with AI to support business-related functions, such as subscriber acquisition, or tools to assist reporters with tasks like data analysis. The five participating newsrooms will share what they learn over the two-year grant period with the broader industry. “The idea here,” Friedlich said, “is AI for sustainability in the journalism business rather than AI to replace journalists.”

The Lenfest Institute launched the Philadelphia Media Founders Exchange in 2022 to support media entrepreneurs of color through training, one-on-one coaching, and grantmaking. The program is returning for 2024-2025 — and this time, the class consists of program alumni who are ready to take their businesses to the next stage of growth.  This year’s program builds upon the foundational skills the fellows developed during their first Founders Exchange experience. The fellows will focus on strategic planning, operational efficiency, and revenue generation, with the goal being to empower participants to build profitable, impactful, and sustainable media enterprises. Please join us in welcoming the 2024-2025 Founders Exchange class: ⭐️ Arianne Bracho, Madre Tierra ⭐️ Jean-Pierre Brice, CMPRadio.net ⭐️ Nathalie 'Talie' Cerin, Woy Magazine ⭐️ Monique Curry-Mims, MBA, MSEd, CAP®, Generocity ⭐️ Indah Nuritasari, Indonesian Lantern ⭐️ Dr. Phillip J. Roundtree DSW, LCSW, MS, Quadefy LLC ⭐️ Tamara “P.O.C.” Russell, REVIVE Radio + Media ⭐️ Kaia Niambi Shivers Ph.D., Ark Republic PMFE is supported by Comcast NBCUniversal, the Independence Public Media Foundation, and the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation.

FunTimes Magazine, a Philadelphia-based publication serving the African Diaspora, launched the “988 Diaspora Campaign” in 2023 to connect community members with mental health resources. Over the course of the project, the publication built a unique coalition of newsrooms, Black healthcare organizations, mental health professionals, nonprofits, businesses, and cultural and faith-based organizations to disseminate information on mental health and the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. “One of the most critical lessons from the campaign was the undeniable impact of culturally competent outreach,” said Associate Publisher Sandy Lawrence. “FunTimes established a deeper connection and trust by leveraging community navigators who shared the same cultural backgrounds as the people we aimed to reach.” Sandy recently sat down for a Q&A on the project, which was supported by The Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund ⬇️

Happening today at 4 p.m. EST / 1 p.m. PST! Learn more and register 🚨⬇️

💡📰💸 How is your news organization thinking about sustainable digital revenue streams? At this free webinar on Nov. 18 at 10 a.m. EST, we’ll be joined by FT Strategies for a conversation on The Beyond Print Toolkit, a free guide to print reduction from The Lenfest Institute and the American Press Institute. We’ll discuss practical methods for streamlining operations, reducing costs, and driving sustainable growth while maintaining the high-quality journalism your audiences and communities rely on. Discover how the Beyond Print Toolkit helps newsrooms manage the complexities of transitioning from print, and learn how FT Strategies’ Path to Profitability framework can help you deliver operational efficiencies and strategic cost reduction.   Register to attend the free event, featuring George Adelman, Jon Slade, and Jim Friedlich ⬇️

In today’s The Philadelphia Inquirer, Lenfest Institute CEO and Executive Director Jim Friedlich writes about how a strong and independent press helps ensure free and fair elections. In January 2016, the late cable-television entrepreneur H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest donated The Philadelphia Inquirer to The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, a newly formed public charity. His vision was to ensure The Inquirer — and local journalism as a whole — could remain independent, produce public-service journalism at the local level, and meet the challenges of the digital age. “His fear — and his foresight — was that absent the presence of well-funded independent local journalism and trusted news brands, the internet would be flooded with disinformation and political discourse dominated by the wealthy and the self-interested,” Jim writes. “Mr. Lenfest had in mind days like today.” The Lenfest Institute is proud to have supported local journalists in Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, and across the country in the lead up to Election Day. Link to the full essay, “A republic, if you can keep it,” in the comments. 

The Lenfest News Philanthropy Network is pleased to announce the 11 news organizations receiving support to experiment with their year-end fundraising efforts as part of The Lenfest Institute for Journalism’s News Catalyst Grant program. The grantees, which include both non- and for-profit media, will conduct experiments on innovative approaches to end-of-year fundraising — including direct mail fundraising, SMS messaging, live events, and more. The 11 organizations will each receive a grant of up to $20,000. The grantees are: ⭐️ Ashland.news ⭐️Borderless Magazine ⭐️Documented ⭐️El Tímpano ⭐️QCity Metro ⭐️inewsource ⭐️Louisville Public Media ⭐️Mountain Xpress ⭐️Public Media Network ⭐️Richland Source ⭐️The Two River Times Catalyst Grants are made possible through the generous support of the Google News Initiative and the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund.

"We’d like to be held to a high standard. We'll work with these newsrooms not just to improve their processes but to develop frameworks and applications from which the entire news industry can learn," Jim Friedlich of Lenfest Institute for Journalism. #NewsMedia #Journalism https://lnkd.in/eKTvXY9m