The Kresge Foundation’s Post

I am truly excited to introduce the inaugural Request for Proposals for Press Forward Chicago. Press Forward Chicago, an innovative collaborative grantmaking initiative aimed at bolstering local news and fostering a resilient information ecosystem within our city. Chicago is fortunate to be endowed with a tapestry of media outlets that diligently serve the diverse information needs of our communities. It is important to recognize that while our local news scene is robust, it is also fragile. Even with the current array of media outlets, there exists a fragility that underscores the importance of continued support and investment. Recognizing that an informed community is the bedrock of a vibrant democracy, I've had the privilege of collaborating with esteemed colleagues over the past year and a half to establish a dedicated fund tailored to support local news. This funding opportunity is a direct response to the pressing needs articulated by newsrooms across Chicago. With a clear focus on capacity building, this RFP represents the first of two initiatives slated for release this year as part of Press Forward Chicago. I invite all eligible organizations to carefully review the RFP and consider submitting proposals that align with our overarching mission of empowering local journalism and fortifying our community through equitable access to reliable information. Press Forward Chicago is more than a grantmaking initiative. It is an opportunity to reimagine how philanthropy, journalists, donors, Newsrooms, residents and civic leaders come together and bring our best thinking to building a sustainable future for news and information. #PressForwardChicago #localnews #LocalJournalism #pressforwardlocal #CommunityEmpowerment #rfp

🔗 Did you catch our latest blog "Promoting the Power of Lived Experience"? Our first Public Engagement strategy unites our Policy, Communications, and Journalism work. From peacebuilding to forced labor & human trafficking to racial justice, we're committed to pushing for change by centering those with lived experiences. Learn how we're seeking to make an impact through our public engagement work: https://lnkd.in/eVshWgtj

Tell all the future journalists in your orbit (and current ones taking their next educational step) that National Press Club scholarships are open! Feel free to connect them with me if they have questions. Now, I can’t give them any insider secrets, but I’m happy to share some tips. #scholarships #journalism #media #nextgeneration

A key aspect of community engagement centers on people being able to access information easily and efficiently via local news platforms. Recent research out of Northwestern's State of Local News Project provides a county-by-county snapshot of media outlets across the nation showing how levels of affluence affect access to local journalism. Checked my own experience on this map to see how it tracked — when I worked as a fulltime journalism teacher in uber-affluent Silicon Valley (median 2022 household income, per U.S. census report = ~ $153,000), my immediate surrounding county (Santa Clara county) shows 23 local news outlets. Compare that to my current home of Winnebago County in Illinois (median 2022 household income, per U.S. census report = ~ $61,000): 8 news outlets — primarily broadcast, but also a legacy newspaper a step away from extinction. In the short term, agree that philanthropy may be the necessary stop-gap support required to sustain the "fire line" to slow loss and attrition of local news outlets and help keep local journalism alive, while we collectively figure out a better, sustainable economic model for journalism in years ahead

This is worth a full read - down to clicking on every link and diving deep there, too. If you care about community and quality media, it will give you plenty of reasons to be inspired. 👇 - The right mission: "Amid this growth, one thing is certain: it’s vital to build local news organizations that are resilient, sustainable, and can endure through changing market conditions." - The right metric: American Journalism Project portfolio companies grew revenue by more than $86 million (a 36 percent increase year over year) - The right focus - community: The president of a trucking company explains why he's backing a local media startup in his town. Three cheers for progress AND for transparency. At the bottom of the post is a link to ideas you can steal (and in that vein, that link is here: https://lnkd.in/gzt7mzqw). #localnewsmatters #journalism #businessmodel #nonprofitnews

Gillmor writes in part, "The status quo in political (and related) coverage consists of sporadically noting that gosh-maybe-there’s-a-problem, while sticking mostly to journalistic business as usual. The status quo is journalistic malpractice." We see "gosh-maybe-there's-a-problem" treatment in news coverage of trafficking all the time, though we've described it in slightly different words. It's a kind of wide-eyed, "hey, can you believe there's trafficking going on in this city/town" treatment on repeat. Yes, there is trafficking here, there, everywhere. Better reporting tells audiences what it looks like, what's being done to combat it and by whom/what groups, to what effect, as an example. If you find yourself writing the former kind of story, go deeper. It's not an understatement to say that substantive reporting on human trafficking is a contribution toward the health of a democracy.

Some changes ahead: I'm leaving academia to "help people who are working to save democracy, and by extension freedom of expression, in part by helping journalism perform its most essential role." More in my new blog post: https://lnkd.in/gx_8Rg-e

Hear, hear. RMIT is politically influenced and that is colouring the results of RMIT fact checker. There is evidence that there is indeed Aboriginal recognition already in the Australian Constitution, in the "flora section". That's to say, Section 100, water for conservation purposes. RMIT doesn't want to acknowledge that because in 2007, Marxists in the Labor Party conspired with fascists in the National Party and in the Liberal Party to annul tens of millions of Australians' rights to freedom, in Section 100 of our Constitution, via the 2007 Water Act and its Murray Darling Basin Plan, hidden behind the War in Iraq.. And RMIT has a conflict of interest - its involvement in something that is covered by national security censorship that also extends to the context of Section 100, which includes the 1901 White Australia Policy. RMIT has allowed its conflict of interest to betray freedom for all Australians, including especially Aboriginal tribes in the Murray Darling Basin. ==> Guardian Australia, do you understand these crucial issues? This stuff has been hidden for more than 120 years and only whispered about. The Underground Railroad made it all the way to Australia (via a women's network)! Respect for Aboriginal rights was not universal, but it dates back a long, long way. Our US alliance is a lot older than most people appreciate. How else do you think the Catalpa Rescue was coordinated? It's documented in Trove. Everyone has heard the "flora" rumour. It is true. It's modern day white supremacists in our unis, politics and business who want you to believe it's false. They assassinated the former Premier of Victoria, John Murray, because of it. Chairman of the Board, for the Protection of Aborigines, in May 1916, during the Irish Easter Uprising.

Big news and important work coming up from one of the leading lights in journalism and digital media. I can't wait to hear more from Dan about his next phase, toward saving democracy and freedom of expression!