CIMA-Investigative Journalism - Dave Kaplan

How applicable is the U.S. nonprofit model in other countries? Under U.S. law, nonprofit
corporations receive several advantages, including contributions on which donors can take a
full tax deduction, and no taxation on income received by the organization (although employee
salaries are taxed). Such potent economic incentives do not exist in most countries. The growing U.S.
nonprofit sector also benefits from a strong tradition of philanthropy and a large domestic market
from which to solicit support. But the model is not isolated to the United States. One of the UK’s most
prominent daily newspapers, The Guardian, is owned by the Scott Trust, formed in 1936 “to safeguard
the journalistic freedom and liberal values of the Guardian.” 7
Besides the nonprofit model, other forms of public subsidies support media around the world.
Among them: discounted postal rates for print media, discounted broadcast licenses, governmentsponsored
advertising, and direct subsidies. In many countries, particularly in Western Europe,
taxpayers provide considerable support to the news media through parliamentary allocations or
license fees given to public broadcasting. The large donated figures to U.S. media stand in sharp
relief to the comparatively low support Americans give public broadcasting. U.S. annual per capita
spending on public broadcasting is less than $4, compared to $30 in Canada, $91 in the United
Kingdom, and $131 in Germany. 8
Endnotes
1. Charles Lewis, The Growing Importance of Nonprofit Journalism, The Joan Shorenstein Center on the
Press, Politics and Public Policy, Harvard University, 2007; See also Charles Lewis, “The Nonprofit Road,” Columbia
Journalism Review, Sept-Oct, 2007.
2. Lewis, The Growing Importance of Nonprofit Journalism, 6.
3. The Information Needs of Communities: The changing media landscape in a broadband age, Steven Waldman,
Federal Communications Commission, July 2011, http://www.fcc.gov/info-needs-communities
4. Chelsea Ide and Kanupriya Vashisht, “Today’s Investigative Reporters Lack Resources,” The Arizona Republic,
May 28, 2006, http://www.azcentral.com/specials/special01/0528bolles-stateofreporting.html.
5. Despite INN’s name, nearly half of its members do not appear focused on investigative projects or indepth
journalism. See Investigative News Network, http://www.investigativenewsnetwork.org/members
6. “New Media Makers,” J-Lab, http://www.kcnn.org/toolkit/funding_database
7. “The Scott Trust,” Guardian Media Group, http://www.gmgplc.co.uk/the-scott-trust. On other countries,
see “Visionaries sustain journalistic values with trusts,” Investigative Reporting Workshop, October 1, 2010,
http://investigativereportingworkshop.org/blogs/shop-notes/posts/2010/oct/01/charitable-and-trust-ownership-news.
8. Public Media and Political Independence: Lessons for the Future of Journalism from Around the World, Rodney
Benson and Matthew Powers, Free Press, 2011, http://www.freepress.net/sites/default/files/stn-legacy/
public-media-and-political-independence.pdf, 61.
Center for International Media Assistance 27
CIMA Research Report: Global Investigative Journalism