Last year, an NPR/Ipsos poll found that more than half of Americans believe U.S. democracy is “in crisis and at risk of failing.” Preserving and strengthening democracy is one of the toughest challenges facing our country, and local journalism can help address this challenge by reducing the spread of misinformation, increasing voter engagement and holding leaders accountable.
Many democracy funders recognize that the health of local news is closely intertwined with the health of our democracy. Local journalism catalyzes citizen action by providing daily reporting that empowers people to participate in civic life. It uncovers corruption, ensures transparency and conducts investigations that shed light on critical issues.
However, it’s no secret that social media and 24-hour cable news have broken the news industry’s traditional business model and many news outlets (especially newspapers) are struggling to survive. Data from June 2022 reveals that at least one-fifth of the U.S. population, roughly 70 million people, reside in communities without a newspaper or are at risk of losing theirs.
Because of the role journalism plays in American democracy, it is vital for funders that are focused on equity and democracy to help local journalism not only survive, but become resilient. Funders can support local journalism as one of many intersectional ways to preserve and strengthen our democracy.
Philanthropy should leverage its unique access to flexible funding and ability to take risks to fuel work that reimagines and strengthens how democracy works by funding local journalism outlets that are currently struggling. But that’s not all: Funders can support upstream efforts that promote the health of the sector in ways that buttress local news through funding to combat misinformation; and supporting platforms that make the stories journalism tells more inclusive.
And, perhaps most importantly, the field should provide unrestricted funding to these fundamental institutions to preserve the tensile strength of our democracy and society as a whole.
1. Fund struggling local news outlets, and innovative independent ones
By supporting independent and local journalism initiatives that hold power accountable and promote transparency, funders can contribute to a stronger democratic system. More support for news outlets helps ensure a diverse media landscape to foster robust democratic discourse and can minimize risks associated with media concentration or bias.
As the news industry declines and many smaller news outlets face layoffs and ultimately closure, funders have the potential to serve as a beacon of hope for these struggling entities.
The Knight Foundation, for example, has played a pivotal role in ensuring that small towns and mid-sized cities maintain their newspapers. Stating that they “invest in models and methods that advance the practice of journalism, build trust, reach new and diverse audiences, and generate revenue solutions to ensure a sustainable future,” this is one of Knight’s core areas of funding.
In addition to providing subsidies to prop up organizations that utilize the “traditional” business model for local journalism, some funders are challenging the for-profit newspaper approach altogether.
American Journalism Project founder Elizabeth Green aims to create a network of nonprofit news outlets. In a 2020 New York Times article, Green said, “We need to accept that what local news is today is already dying,” and argued for an approach that preserves the unique perspective, expertise, and values of local journalism through independent nonprofit journalism outfits whose staff and coverage most closely reflect the communities they report on, like The TriiBE in Chicago or ICT in Native communities across the U.S.
In a similar vein, a recent Fast Company article called for brands to start considering the news as a “public good” and convening a task force to galvanize ESG (environmental, social and governance) investments in journalism since it is the “underpinning of our economy, our democracy, and our society itself.”
Through exploring approaches to funding that rethink how the news functions and fostering a sustainable future for local news, funders can ensure the endurance of journalism in local communities.
2. Dismantle the misinformation machine
Invest in organizations that combat misinformation and help citizens make informed decisions and actively engage in democratic processes.
The proliferation and mainstreaming of misinformation pose a real threat to public trust, causing confusion and leading to harmful decision-making. Philanthropy can play a critical role in preserving the truth by fostering initiatives that tackle this issue through fact-checking, promoting media literacy, conducting research and implementing solutions to combat the spread and impact of misinformation.
Fact-checking efforts confront misinformation in the moment to prevent its spread. Many media outlets have their own fact-checking functions; many independent organizations — like PolitiFact, factcheck.org and Media Matters — provide real-time fact-checking of false narratives that show up in the news. Further upstream, media literacy organizations are educating the public about how to identify misinformation and be responsible consumers of the news. Nationally, organizations like the National Association of Media Literacy Educators, MediaWise and the News Literacy Project work to build the field. Local organizations across the country work with young people and schools to incorporate media literacy and critical thinking into curricula and after-school programs.
The rise of social media, the decline of legacy news organizations, and the increasingly fast speed of communications also mean that the dynamics of misinformation are in flux. The research on misinformation suggests that the best antidote to misinformation is “prebutting,” where a news consumer encounters a rebuttal to a piece of misinformation before they encounter the misinformation itself. This acts as a kind of inoculation, flagging a piece of misinformation as false once the news consumer encounters it in the media. In a fractured media environment, and one in which social media messages often reach people faster than news, “prebutting” is hard to achieve. To keep up with this rapid pace of change, donors can support research organizations like Data & Society, which seek to understand the impact technology has on public life.
3. Rewire journalism’s narratives
Fund news organizations that prioritize coverage of historically marginalized communities and address issues of social justice to better promote democratic representation and greater equity within society.
Creating resilient journalism that doesn’t merely survive, but thrives, means that the sector should reflect America’s changing demographics. Funders can help shine a light on both the deeply entrenched systemic issues that have shaped the society we live in today and the champions that are imagining a better future. This could involve funding reporting that doesn’t show up in “mainstream” newsrooms, funding journalism that focuses on pressing social issues, or allocating resources toward training journalists.
The spread of nonprofit, digital journalism has seen a rise in topic- and community-focused publications that address some of the country’s greatest challenges. Examples include The 19th, which reports on gender issues; The Trace, which reports on the country’s gun violence epidemic; Grist, which covers climate change and environmental justice; and The Marshall Project, which reports on criminal justice. Many of these report nationally but with a particular focus on the impacts these policies have on local communities; some work in partnership with local news organizations to create fuller coverage of issues in those local communities (Grist’s partnership with Atlanta NPR affiliate WABE is one example).
Perhaps the most prominent example of this kind of hard-hitting, investigative journalism that reshapes our understanding is The New York Times’ Pulitzer Prize-winning “1619 Project,” which reframes America’s history through the lens of enslavement. This project, which was started by Nikole Hannah-Jones as an award-winning essay and has expanded to include a book, docuseries and learning curriculum, is working to repair the way “Black people are largely treated as an asterisk in the American story,” as Hannah-Jones said to NPR.
Now, Hannah-Jones is invested further upstream in increasing and retaining reporters and editors of color in the field of investigative reporting. Her latest project, the Ida B. Wells Society, offers training on critical skills, such as fact-checking, finding government data, advanced interview techniques and offers mentorship opportunities. The initiative also seeks to “educate news organizations and journalists on how the inclusion of diverse voices can raise the caliber, impact and visibility of investigative journalism as a means of promoting transparency and good government.”
In a time when democracy is facing immense challenges, journalism remains — as it has for so long in American history — a powerful force to counteract these threats. A market failure means that the survival of journalism depends heavily on philanthropy’s support. Philanthropy can reshape and fortify democracy by investing in local news, combating misinformation, changing the narrative, and ultimately holding leaders accountable.
If funders ensure that journalism thrives, they will reinforce the foundation of a strong and resilient democracy for generations to come.
