The New Advertisers: How Foundation Funding Impacts Journalism
Many journalism stakeholders have begun looking to philanthropic foundations to help newsrooms find economic sustainability. The rapidly expanding role of foundations as a revenue source for news publishers raises an important question: How do foundations exercise their influence over the newsrooms...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cogitatio
2019-12-01
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| Series: | Media and Communication |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/2251 |
| _version_ | 1811344712667234304 |
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| author | Patrick Ferrucci Jacob L. Nelson |
| author_facet | Patrick Ferrucci Jacob L. Nelson |
| author_sort | Patrick Ferrucci |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Many journalism stakeholders have begun looking to philanthropic foundations to help newsrooms find economic sustainability. The rapidly expanding role of foundations as a revenue source for news publishers raises an important question: How do foundations exercise their influence over the newsrooms they fund? Using the hierarchy of influence model, this study utilizes more than 40 interviews with journalists at digitally native nonprofit news organizations and employees from foundations that fund nonprofit journalism to better understand the impact of foundation funding on journalistic practice. Drawing on previous scholarship exploring extra-media influence on the news industry, we argue that the impact of foundations on journalism parallels that of advertisers throughout the 20th century—with one important distinction: Journalism practitioners and researchers have long forbidden the influence from advertisers on editorial decisions, seeing the blurring of the two as inherently unethical. Outside funding from foundations, on the other hand, is often premised on editorial influence, complicating efforts by journalists to maintain the firewall between news revenue and production. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T19:52:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c6a61b26483c4a92933906f78fba5f5a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2183-2439 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T19:52:10Z |
| publishDate | 2019-12-01 |
| publisher | Cogitatio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Media and Communication |
| spelling | doaj.art-c6a61b26483c4a92933906f78fba5f5a2022-12-22T02:32:30ZengCogitatioMedia and Communication2183-24392019-12-0174455510.17645/mac.v7i4.22511253The New Advertisers: How Foundation Funding Impacts JournalismPatrick Ferrucci0Jacob L. Nelson1Department of Journalism, College of Media, Communication & Information, University of Colorado Boulder, USAWalter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Arizona State University, USAMany journalism stakeholders have begun looking to philanthropic foundations to help newsrooms find economic sustainability. The rapidly expanding role of foundations as a revenue source for news publishers raises an important question: How do foundations exercise their influence over the newsrooms they fund? Using the hierarchy of influence model, this study utilizes more than 40 interviews with journalists at digitally native nonprofit news organizations and employees from foundations that fund nonprofit journalism to better understand the impact of foundation funding on journalistic practice. Drawing on previous scholarship exploring extra-media influence on the news industry, we argue that the impact of foundations on journalism parallels that of advertisers throughout the 20th century—with one important distinction: Journalism practitioners and researchers have long forbidden the influence from advertisers on editorial decisions, seeing the blurring of the two as inherently unethical. Outside funding from foundations, on the other hand, is often premised on editorial influence, complicating efforts by journalists to maintain the firewall between news revenue and production.https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/2251advertisingfoundationsjournalismnews productionnewsroomsrevenue |
| spellingShingle | Patrick Ferrucci Jacob L. Nelson The New Advertisers: How Foundation Funding Impacts Journalism Media and Communication advertising foundations journalism news production newsrooms revenue |
| title | The New Advertisers: How Foundation Funding Impacts Journalism |
| title_full | The New Advertisers: How Foundation Funding Impacts Journalism |
| title_fullStr | The New Advertisers: How Foundation Funding Impacts Journalism |
| title_full_unstemmed | The New Advertisers: How Foundation Funding Impacts Journalism |
| title_short | The New Advertisers: How Foundation Funding Impacts Journalism |
| title_sort | new advertisers how foundation funding impacts journalism |
| topic | advertising foundations journalism news production newsrooms revenue |
| url | https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/2251 |
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