Giving Compass' Take:

•  Jessica Clark and Molly de Aguiar discuss what they believe media funders should prioritize in the context of journalism and what the conversation is missing.

• Philanthropy can support nonprofit journalism, but do donors have an expectation of influencing coverage?

• How will small nonprofit media outlets survive? Learn more.

Next week, several hundred people from national, community, and place-based foundations, as well as newsrooms and other nonprofits, will come together at the Knight Media Forum in Miami. The conference focuses on philanthropy’s role in strengthening local news and information, which is essential for healthy communities and a vibrant democracy. We believe there’s an important conversation missing from the conference schedule: a discussion of the power imbalance inherent in funder-grantee relationships, and what we can do about it.

Funders wield immense power over the field of nonprofit news, from what they choose to value and support, to how the boundaries of “journalism” are defined, to how they design their systems and processes. Any nonprofit that has ever tried to figure out how to get its foot in the door with a funder, or spent countless hours on its application, and months waiting for a decision, already knows it can be relentlessly discouraging to try to get funding. And once they get it, hanging onto it for more than a year or two can seem like a never-ending battle.

Read the full article about things media funders don't talk about but should by Jessica Clark
and Molly de Aguiar at Media Impact Funders