A look at how 40 U.S. news collaboratives are currently funded

A couple weeks ago, Mariela Santos Muniz and I published a list of about 40 news collaboratives in the U.S. that we identified as being permanent, stand-alone efforts or semi-permanent efforts attached to one partner.

I received a question recently about that list: How are each of these organizations funded?

I could name off the top of my head how several of them were funded, but had to dig around to find answers for all of them. After I finished the list, I thought — hey, this is pretty interesting! So I thought I’d share the findings.

We have long known that most collaboratives in the U.S. were launched thanks to one of three main sources of funding: Public money from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, private foundation support or through self-financing. What is most interesting however, are those examples of funders forming coalitions and pooling money to support collaboratives (this was my 2020 Nieman Lab prediction, btw), examples of many more big-name foundations stepping up (Walton Family, Chan Zuckerberg, Microsoft, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to name a few) and a focus on raising more individual donations or contributions.

With all that being said, here’s a list of how permanent collaboratives are currently funded. If I screwed up your funding source (I took these from mostly from your websites!), please let me know so I can fix it: murrayst@montclair.edu

Permanent collaboratives, with independent manager(s)

• Amplify News Project: Funded by Robert R. McCormick Foundation and The Joyce Foundation, with general support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
• Amplify Ohio: Funded by the Local Media Association, looking for other funders.
• Center for Collaborative Journalism at Mercer University: Funded by Mercer University, Knight Foundation and The Peyton Anderson Foundation.
• Charlotte Journalism Collaborative: Funded by Knight Foundation via the Solutions Journalism Network Local Media Project.
• Colorado News Collaborative: Funded by the Colorado Media Project — which is a coalition of foundations including Gates Family Foundation, Democracy Fund, Bohemian Foundation, and others; direct grants from Colorado Health Foundation, Denver Foundation Donor Advised Fund, Inasmuch Foundation and others; earned revenue from the Colorado Press Association and the Colorado Broadcasters Association; and donations from more than 1,000 individuals.
• Covering Climate Collaborative: Funded by Local Media Association, Local Media Foundation and Google News Initiative.
• Dallas Media Collaborative: Funded by Knight Foundation via the Solutions Journalism Network Local Media Project.
• Granite State News Collaborative: Initially funded by Knight Foundation via the Solutions Journalism Network Local Media Project, seeking to diversify funding
• International Fact Checking Network: Quite a few funders have support IFCN since its 2015 launch, including Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, the Duke Reporters’ Lab, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Google, Facebook, U.S. Department of State, the National Endowment for Democracy, the Omidyar Network (Luminate), the Open Society Foundations, Fritt Ord Foundation, Duke Reporters Lab, Craig Newmark Philanthropies and the Park Foundation.
• Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk: One major funder, Walton Family Foundation.
• NJ News Commons: Funded with operational and project support from Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and Democracy Fund.
• Northeast Ohio Solutions Journalism Collaborative: Funded by Knight Foundation via the Solutions Journalism Network Local Media Project, plus Report for America support from Cleveland Foundation.
• Oklahoma Media Center: Supported by a coalition including Local Media Foundation, Inasmuch Foundation, Walton Family Foundation and Democracy Fund.
• Pittsburgh Media Partnership: Supported by Heinz Endowments and Henry Hillman Foundation.
• Resolve Philadelphia: Originally funded by Knight Foundation via the Solutions Journalism Network Local Media Project, now supported by Knight, Lenfest Institute for Journalism, Independence Public Media Foundation, Ford Foundation and Solutions Journalism Network. The group has also raised revenue from consulting and individual donors.
• Solving for Chicago: Local Media Foundation, Google News Initiative and Knight Foundation via the Solutions Journalism Network Local Media Project.
• The New York & Michigan Solutions Journalism Collaborative: Funded by the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr., Foundation, Health Foundation for Western and Central New York and the Knight Foundation.
• Wichita Journalism Collaborative: Funded by Wichita Community Foundation and Knight Foundation via the Solutions Journalism Network Local Media Project.
• Word in Black: Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Walton Family Foundation, Facebook Journalism Project, Google News Initiative, Local Media Association.
• Your Voice Ohio: Knight Foundation, Democracy Fund, Facebook Journalism Project.

Permanent, but managed by one partner or with shared oversight:

• 100 Days in Appalachia: Quite a few funders, including Democracy Fund, Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, Ford Foundation, Park Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The One Foundation and Wyncote Foundation.
• Charlottesville Inclusive Media Project: Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, Google News Initiative.
• Coast Alaska: Funded by its members.
• Connected Coastlines: Supported by the Pulitzer Center.
• Covering Climate Now: Diverse group including Actions@EBMF, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Michaux Family Foundation, Park Foundation, Rockefeller Family & Associates, Schumann Media Center and Wayne Crookes.
• Chicago Independent Media Alliance: Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation, McCormick Foundation and Joyce Foundation, a couple anonymous foundations plus a lot of individual donations.
• Great Lakes Now: Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Richard C. Devereaux Foundation for Energy & Environmental Programs at DPTV, Polk Family Fund, Brookby Foundation
• Gulf States Newsroom: NPR, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Eric & Wendy Schmidt.
• Harvest Public Media: Self-funded by member stations
• NC Watchdog Reporting Network: Self-funded by member outlets
• New England News Collaborative: Supported by partner stations, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other funders including the Common Sense Fund, Avangrid Foundation, The Hilaria and Alec Baldwin Foundation, Nellie Mae Education Foundation, Smart Family Foundation of New York and the Kate Cassidy Foundation.
• The NEW (Northeast Wisconsin) News Lab: Funded by Microsoft via a partnership with Greater Green Bay Community Foundation and Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region.
• North Carolina News Collaborative: Self-funded by member newspapers.
• Northwest News Network: Supported by sponsors.
• NPR Texas Collaborative: NPR, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Eric & Wendy Schmidt.
• NPR Midwest Collaborative: NPR, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Eric & Wendy Schmidt.
• NPR California Collaborative: NPR, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Eric & Wendy Schmidt.
• Ohio Valley ReSource: Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
• Parity Newsroom Collaborative: Funded by the Carter Center
• Side Effects Public Media: Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, PRX, Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
• Stories of Atlantic City: Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Democracy Fund via the NJ Local News Lab.
• The Invading Sea: Unsure, appears to be self-funded.
• WHYY’s News & Information Community Exchange (N.I.C.E): Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund.

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Stefanie Murray is director of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University. Contact her at murrayst@montclair.edu.

About the Center for Cooperative Media: The Center is a primarily grant-funded program of the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University. Its mission is to grow and strengthen local journalism, and in doing so serve New Jersey residents. The Center is supported with funding from Montclair State University, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Democracy Fund, the New Jersey Local News Lab (a partnership of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Democracy Fund, and Community Foundation of New Jersey), and the Abrams Foundation. For more information, visit CenterforCooperativeMedia.org.