Foundations: Nurturing Journalistic Values or Threatening Independence?

directory of the Association for Education in Journalism and

Mass Communications lists no fewer than 26 foundations that

nurture journalism. The programs range from year-long

continuing education programs at first-rate universities to

weekend workshops on specific issues to an examination of the

bedrock values that define journalism. And the role of

foundations in journalism seems to be increasing across the

board.

All of this underlines what we at the Pew

Center have been heartened to learn in our three years of

operations– how many allies we have in our work to improve

the journalism-audience connection. Does all of this

foundation activity constitute a threat to the independence

of newspapers and broadcasters? Independence is, after all, a

core value of journalism, respected by all journalists worthy

of the name, and as former editors we are deeply sensitive to

the issue.

Last fall The Wall Street Journal

set out to explore the question of whether The Pew Charitable

Trusts were buying their way into newsrooms. If the newspaper

found any evidence to support that view, it wasn’t shared

with readers nor were any editors quoted who seemed alarmed

by foundation funding of newsroom projects.

Perhaps that’s because of the special role

foundation funding plays in our economy. It is the financial

underpinning for high-risk experiments that cannot attract

capital from conventional sources. It is different from

conventional capital because foundations do not demand a

financial return on their investment.

Foundation funding is seed money, targeted

where there is a chance for a break-out idea to find its

legs, but, for which, for whatever reason, conventional funds

aren’t available. We operate in the hope that if a civic

journalism project proves itself, its parent news

organization will take over support and incorporate the

lessons learned into daily operations.

That is, indeed, what seems to be happening

as newsrooms that earlier sought support now find ways to

incorporate civic journalism principles into the way they

cover the news. This and other issues of the Civic

Catalyst are filled with reports from forward thinking

editors on projects we have encouraged around the country.

Pew’s Venture Funding

Although each foundation has its own

approach, here is how the venture capital selection system

works at the Pew Center: An applicant proposes a worthy idea

that conforms to our guidelines, the proposal is accepted for

consideration, our advisory board meets, selects and approves

the initiatives to be supported. A subcontract is signed and

a check sent to start the project down a road that the

editor, not us, has chosen.

That completes the transaction except for a

final report when the project ends.

No one looks over the editor’s shoulder, no

one visits the newsroom unless invited, there is no demand

that reporters attend our workshops, screen our videos or

even read our publications. Oh sure, we like to see

tearsheets and are happy to report on projects so the rest of

the profession can share the lessons the editor has learned,

but that’s the extent of our involvement.

We’ve learned that early seed money is

essential to help with the initial unbudgeted expenses of

launching a civic journalism initiative. The most common use

of Pew money is to fund survey research or to hire a

community coordinator who knows how to reach out to the

community.Staffing and news hole are two areas where our

funds may not be used; other than that, where the money is

spent is left to the creativity of local journalists.

Foundations in Journalism

In addition to our work and the well known

fellowship programs for mid-career journalists at Harvard,

Michigan and Stanford, all funded by foundations, other

examples abound of the imaginative use of foundation funds to

foster good journalism.

The McCormick-Tribune Foundation underwrites

"News in the Next Century," an exploration of how

new technology will affect the electronic news media. A

separate effort, "New Directions for News," seeks

to bring innovative thinking to bear on newspapers’ changing

readership. Still another grant supports the Values

Institute, an initiative of the American Society of Newspaper

Editors, which is wrestling with the question of what

journalistic values will guide newspapers as they face new

competition. Altogether, these are multi-million dollar

programs designed to help guide a multi-billion dollar

industry buffeted by changing technology as it moves into

largely uncharted waters.

The Freedom Forum is picking up the tab for

reporter Lisa Herzing Burgess’ year-long stint as a fellow at

the National War College. This new program is designed to

give journalists reporting on defense policy a more

sophisticated grasp of the nation’s weapons and strategy and

to narrow the gap of misunderstanding between the military

and the media.

The Joyce Foundation helped fund the Center

for Public Integrity’s tracking of campaign contributions,

widely used by news organizations covering the 1996

elections. The Center did basic reporting and analysis that

few news organizations could have undertaken on their own,

now that downsizing has left most journalists panting from

deadline to deadline.

The reason foundations are involved with

journalism is that journalism isn’t just another business.

While profit obviously motivates every business enterprise,

journalism is the only one that provides news and

information–the oxygen democracy and its companion, free

enterprise, need to survive.

The question is: Will the drive for

ever-higher profits collide with the need to incubate the

civic journalism techniques some news organizations are

developing to hold onto their readers and viewers in the face

of growing competition from other news sources.

Foundation funding is a meager substitute for

the dollars that owners and publishers ought to be spending

to develop better educated people, stronger news values and

innovative journalism techniques. However, until the big

media companies come to that realization on their own,

foundations will be there to help.