An Introduction to Funding Journalism and Media

Over the past few years, the question "Can philanthropy save the media?" seems to pop up with increasing regularity. There are relatively few donors, however, that specialise in supporting the media as an end in itself. And the reality is that - outside the USA - the number of specialised media funders, and the resources they can draw on, is quite limited.

Other funders do support journalism and media, but their reasons for doing so are more diverse, and often, strengthening the field of journalism is not a primary concern. Other donors might be interested in funding journalism in theory, but are wary of getting involved in practice. There are few resources for such donors helping them understand the broader issues at play in funding the media, and what choices and approaches they might employ.

As a first step for its members, who had begun to ask whether there was more they could be doing, the Ariadne Network (European Funders for Social Change and Human Rights) worked with me and the Transparency and Accountability Initiative to develop just such a resource - an Introduction to Funding Journalism and Media - that was released yesterday.

Here's a thrilling shot of the landing page...

The guide has three sections:

• the background to and rationale for philanthropic funding of the media, including from a social justice and human rights perspective. This should help grantmakers who are not sure if and why they should support media directly to make an informed decision, or to help make the case to colleagues.
• key practical advice offered by experienced media grantmakers about making grants to or investments in the media. This should help grantmakers entering the field to ask themselves, colleagues and partners the right questions about how to do so. It should also help funders to feel they can ask more informed questions and understand better the context in which journalistic grantees’ work sits.
• five areas of opportunity and threat in the journalism, media and information fields to which philanthropic funding does or might respond. This should help orient grantmakers in respect of plausible potential areas of intervention, and provide them with a range of jumping-off points from which to explore these areas in more depth.

We hope that the guide will help support those who are thinking about dipping a toe in the water of media funding to feel better equipped to do so in a way that is consonant with their values and mission and respects ethical boundaries, such as the editorial independence of grantees. We're also keen to see it spark discussions among funders, and potentially be re-versioned, adapted, improved by other funders' networks, whether geographic or thematic in focus.

As ever, eager to hear feedback, critiques, things we missed, and so on. Please do share it on if you think it would be of use to peers, colleagues, and others.

(Many people contributed through interviews, sharing resources, reading drafts - we're extremely grateful for their time and generosity.)