Download Philanthropy Annual PDF - Foundation Center

TopStoriesintheNews
nonprofit groups — two favoring
reform of existing drug laws and an
anti-abortion group — from the contest
as their vote totals mounted resulted in
a flurry of critical blog posts, online
social media-based giving campaigns
seemed to be here to stay.
That view was echoed by Case
Foundation CEO Jean Case, whose
foundation, in partnership with Parade
magazine, helped pioneer the social
media giving campaign. “From our
very first experiences with social media
prior to the launch [of America’s Giving
Challenge on Facebook], we recognized
the powerful potential to bring communities
together around issues for which
they shared a passion,” said Case. “[W]e
believe that the prospects for robust participation
by nonprofits are better today
than they were in the first challenge, and
we are heartened to see that nonprofits
have embraced the rapid growth in social
media with enthusiasm.”
Related stories from
Philanthropy
News Digest:
http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/
> “MacArthur Foundation Announces
Winners of 2009 Digital Media
and Learning Competition”
(4/17/09)
> “Online Contests Represent
Potential ‘Jackpots’ for Charities”
(5/13/09)
> “MacArthur Foundation Launches
Virtual Island in Second Life”
(5/24/09)
> “US Twitter Usage Surpasses
Earlier Estimates” (9/14/09)
> “Case Foundation Launches
Initiative to Help Nonprofits
Leverage Social Media” (9/6/09)
GO
> “2009 America’s Giving Challenge
Winners Announced” (11/26/09)
Philanthropy and
the Future of Journalism
Of all the economy-driven stories of the year, the
near-death — or, as some would have it, suicide —
of the newspaper industry may have been the most
avidly followed and hotly debated. Needless to say, it
was a dismal year for all but a few papers.
y the end of the first quarter,
the Los Angeles Times, Chicago
Tribune, and Philadelphia
Inquirer had sought Chapter
11 bankruptcy protection, the Seattle
Post-Intelligencer had stopped publishing
a print edition, and the Rocky Mountain
News, Colorado’s oldest newspaper,
had closed its doors entirely. As the
recession dragged on and circulation
and advertising revenues continued
to fall, other newspapers across the
country were forced to make layoffs,
scale back home delivery, and scramble
to find cost-saving measures.
But as bad as it was, media experts
seemed to agree that the industry had
not bottomed out. According to U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics data published
in Editor & Publisher magazine —
which was shuttered at the end of the
year by its parent the Nielsen Co. after
125 years as a going concern — the
industry will lose nearly 25 percent of
its jobs by 2018.
Such dire projections made it clear
that journalism, in order to thrive in the
twenty-first century, needs a new business
model — and one of the options
most frequently mentioned was the
not-for-profit model. In March, Sen. Ben
Cardin (D-MD) introduced legislation
(S. 673) that would allow newspapers to
become tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations
and operate in a manner similar to
public broadcasting stations; in September,
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)
offered a companion bill (H.R. 3602)
in the House, saying that “Unless something
is done, and done fast, it’s likely
that many metropolitan areas may soon
have no local daily newspapers — and
that would damage our democracy.”
Foundations also were looked to in
some quarters to provide a solution to
the industry’s plight — and a number
responded. In May, John S. and James L.
Knight Foundation president Alberto
Ibargüen was one of six media thought
leaders to testify before Congress about
the future of journalism and how
government can help ensure that communities’
information needs are met
during the transition to new models
and platforms. Knight, which under
Ibargüen’s leadership has invested more
than $100 million in projects that could
help shape journalism in the digital
age, wasn’t alone. In June, the Henry J.
Kaiser Family Foundation announced
the launch of a nonprofit news service
dedicated to major health policy issues
in the United States; in August, the
Chicago Community Trust announced
the creation of Community News
Matters, an initiative designed to spur
the growth of new sources of quality
local news and information about the
Chicago region; and in September, the
California HealthCare Foundation and
Annenberg School for Communication
at the University of Southern California
in Los Angeles announced a partnership
to provide in-depth, impartial reporting
on health policy issues in the state.
continues on page 10
Top Stories in the News | 9