Can Philanthropy Save the News Industry?

I am fascinated by the news. I read, online, at least ten different publications every day. Many times, there are multiple articles I will open and read from each of the various publications….some are national stories and some are local news or are simply of interest to me.

At the same time, as an avid news junkie, I’m watching the challenge of finding continuous and accurate local news. To be blunt, local newspapers are becoming less and less local. And when I contrast that to the amazing blessing I have living in Omaha, Nebraska, with phenomenal, robust local reporting found in the Omaha World-Herald, the differences are stark.

A recent article in the Nonprofit Quarterly discusses this issue and how a few nonprofits are venturing into the world of local news. One nonprofit, Report for America, with a grant from the MacArthur Foundation, pays half of a reporter’s salary to do undercover, in-depth reporting at the local level. The Knight Foundation has begun awarding grants to local digital and hardcopy news outlets to better substantiate their finances as it pertains to covering local news. And the Institute for a Nonprofit News was created in an attempt to keep local news publications alive. To date, it owns nearly 300 newspapers and recently touted its fundraising success to show how that money is keeping local news alive in certain communities.

Here in Omaha, a nonprofit group started a publication with the sole intention of publishing local news affecting the community.  It is small and just online.  I would’ve never heard about it had they not requested access to the Governor’s press conferences and were denied press credentials. This turned into a stupid, asinine, ridiculous discussion about who their funders were. In the end, having access to elected officials, whether not-for-profit or for-profit, is a 1st Amendment issue and should never be restricted to any publication that seeks to share information from government sources.

Philanthropy can solve big, challenging, complex problems for communities. Is it possible that the news business, especially at the local level, can be saved by fundraising and philanthropy?