Epicenter NYC’s Post

In the first panel of Knight Media Forum 2024, MacArthur Foundation President and CEO John Palfrey called on funders to join Press Forward. “$500 million is not enough,” he said. “Our goal is to raise the next $500 million at the local level. Communities will need to stand up and support local news—there’s no other choice.” Palfrey then introduced a panel discussion, titled “Empowering Local Journalism,” and joined a conversation with graciela mochkofsky from the CUNY Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, S. Mitra Kalita from URL Media and Alicia Bell at Borealis Philanthropy. Bell said that funders must support BIPOC-serving newsrooms to make sure they have the resources “to create a culture of repair for the harm these newsrooms and journalists have experienced.” Mochkofsky highlighted the importance of changing the culture of philanthropy, the push for legislation to bring in more public money, and having news outlets work more closely with communities. Kalita noted that more people should consider subscribing to news outlets alongside subscriptions to streaming services like Hulu and Netflix. ### #KMF24 Video playback of the entire session will be available later today at KF.org/kmf2024