The Poynter Institute is embarking on a yearlong $5 million fundraising campaign to start an endowment for the organization, president Neil Brown announced Saturday.
“It will ensure that Poynter can continue to train journalists, improve fact-based expression and protect the parts of democracy including local news,” Brown said at the institute’s annual fundraising gala, where “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts was being honored for her career and contribution to the journalism profession.
Poynter has already received an inaugural contribution of $100,000 from an anonymous donor, Brown said. The campaign will coincide with the institute’s 50th anniversary, which it celebrates next year.
Poynter was founded as the Modern Media Institute in 1975 by then-Times Publishing Company owner Nelson Poynter. It was renamed in 1978 when Poynter died and willed the Times Publishing Company, which operates the Tampa Bay Times (then known as the St. Petersburg Times), to the institute.
The Poynter Institute now operates as a nonprofit that trains journalists, promotes media literacy, publishes fact checks and covers the media industry. Its brands include PolitiFact, MediaWise, the International Fact-Checking Network and the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership.
Poynter does not have an endowment, nor does it receive income from the Tampa Bay Times. It earns revenue from its teaching programs and contracts with business partners, as well as contributions in the form of donations and grants.
“Nelson Poynter was a believer in all that journalism could do. He believed in publishing the truth, and he believed that journalism and truth were essential to self-government, to democracy,” Brown said. “On the evening of our 50th anniversary next year, the school has become a center for professional excellence,and it is the most trusted brand in supporting journalism locally, nationally and globally.”
Brown ended his announcement with a toast to the theme of Poynter’s 50th anniversary celebration: journalism, truth and democracy.
