Q&A: Karen Rundlet on how funders view collaborative journalism
Karen Rundlet is Senior Director for the Journalism Program at the Knight Foundation, where she invests in building a sustainable future for local news.
Many of Rundlet’s grantees have focused specifically on collaboration and financial stability, from Resolve Philly to Knight x LMA BloomLab. We caught up with Rundlet to hear about why collaboration is a key aspect of sustainability in local journalism, even for funders themselves.
WF: How did you get involved in journalism?
KR: As a child, news was all around me, so naturally my first reporting work was writing for my high school paper. My mother always had a newspaper on hand and she watched a lot of CNBC. Reading the news was a daily routine. My parents and I moved from Jamaica to the U.S. when I was in elementary school. Learning the ins and outs of the U.S. is every immigrant’s challenge, and from the beginning my mom would always say we could “figure out the American system” by reading the news. I would hear her saying, “You have to stay current,” as she poured over the paper. It wasn’t just us — I had Venezuelan and Cuban friends growing up who said they learned English watching local news. In Miami-Dade County, our families reflected the fact that more than half the population is foreign born. It was pretty common for local news to help immigrants find their footing.
Early in my career, I worked as a producer for local TV stations in Atlanta and New York City. Eventually, I went on to build and run a small video studio at the Miami Herald. It was a first for the Herald. I remember we interviewed Haiti’s President Elect in the studio and produced videos about investigative reports, but we also hosted a show on the local craft beer scene. We were experimenting. I sat near the Flash guy, who built an incredible visual of the changing Miami skyline. Along the way, I produced business reports for various public radio newsrooms, including WLRN/Miami Herald News and American Public Media’s Marketplace.
WF: What made you want to join the Knight Foundation? How did your career path lead you there?
KR: Knight has a strong presence in Miami. Our reputation here is associated with our investments in technology and art across the city. The Knight name rings across Miami’s museums, theaters, and symphony halls — with many of them also featuring the Knight name. Nationally though Knight is primarily known as a leader in journalism funding. Before I joined, Knight was actively investing in Miami’s burgeoning technology ecosystem, which I thought was exciting and even reported on the subject for WLRN and the Miami Herald. I wanted to learn more about Knight’s mission and I eventually discovered the journalism work.
Professionally I was focused on generating revenue by introducing new products for the Herald, while also experimenting with video content. I had friends doing similar work. My friend Amy Driscoll was exploring opportunities to monetize archives, photos, and articles, which further sparked my curiosity. The reality of local journalism was really tough. I was witnessing a number of friends and colleagues lose their jobs, and I really wanted to learn more about the business side of the industry, especially how to innovate and introduce new products to help organizations with profitability. Eventually I applied for a role at Knight, and I have now been a part of the journalism team for eight years.
WF: In your work at Knight, would you say that collaborative journalism is an important piece of building a sustainable future for local news? How so?
KR: Knight believes that informed and engaged communities are essential to a well-functioning democracy and prioritizes journalism investments that are catalytic for the industry, driving growth and future investment. Collaborative journalism has proven to be an important component to building a stronger future for local news — but just building collaborations should not be the ultimate goal, there needs to be a sustainable business model underlying these efforts. Collaborative journalism has consistently demonstrated how it can spark greater audience engagement and empower news outlets to pool resources, tap into specialized expertise, and delve into stories that might otherwise go unreported due to individual constraints. In this way, collaborative projects are vital for the sustainability of local news, enabling news organizations to better serve their communities and build a more informed and engaged democracy.
This model has proven to be foundational to a new generation of emerging local news publishers who have partnered with an array of organizations in an effort to produce a local news renaissance. We are seeing this particularly in the nonprofit area, with models in public media and for-profit companies also showing signs of success. But we have not yet figured out what the right business model will be, which is why we are continuing to encourage experimentation and seek grantees who are focused on developing sustainable models that can benefit a variety of outlets.
WF: What are some of the best examples of collaborative journalism you’ve seen in your time at Knight? What specific projects have excited you most, and why?
KR: I have to talk about Resolve Philly here. Knight supported The Reentry Project, which focused on the challenges and solutions the formerly incarcerated grapple with. Multiple newsrooms worked together, with funding from Knight and others, pooling resources for an initiative that had a deep impact on communities affected by mass incarceration. I think the Lenfest Institute’s Every Voice, Every Vote collaborative is intriguing too because it’s partnering with nonprofit service organizations. That’s a fresh approach.
There is also the Knight x LMA BloomLab initiative which has provided direct financial support to empower nearly 30 traditional and independent Black publishers to enhance their technological capabilities and boost their income streams. The results speak for themselves, with BloomLab-supported newsrooms experiencing a remarkable average revenue growth of 19.8% from 2021 to 2022. And URL Media certainly designed an ad network that has generated real money for its members. The collaborative approach has also influenced how funders are working together. The MacArthur Foundation announced Press Forward, a coalition of 23 foundations working together to invest more than $500 million to revitalize local news. Knight is an anchor investor, committing $150 million over the next five years. With Press Forward, funders will be able to move from operating individually to coordinating to amplify the impact of their funding.
WF: As you look to the future of local news, what do you think the industry needs more of?
KR: The bottom line is that we would like to see more publishers generating impactful journalism across the country, and we know that to do this they need tools and investment to attain self-sufficiency. But even more importantly, we have to reverse the trend of Americans who avoid consuming news altogether. Journalism is key to better informed and engaged communities, but sustainable businesses are not serving that need if audience growth is missing from the equation.
Continuing to experiment with new innovative models will help newsrooms face today’s industry headwinds and independently achieve profitability. Every dollar a newsroom generates through subscriptions, advertising, or innovative community engagement initiatives reduces their reliance on a single funding source. This shift toward diversified revenue streams future-proofs news organizations, ensuring their resilience in the long run. Embracing sustainability efforts reinforces the essence of journalism, allowing news outlets to operate independently and maintain their editorial integrity.
WF: Overall, what are some of the biggest lessons you’ve learned in your career?
KR: I’m deeply practical so I know Knight’s work around financial sustainability is critical. If you’re always worried about bills, it’s hard to do good work. I’d also say that it’s important for applicants to understand the broader marketplace of ideas and where they sit amongst their peers. There are times that I receive a pitch from an organization and it feels familiar. So organizations should know what makes their idea different from others when pitching a concept or project.
Journalism is not immune to broader societal trends, especially when it comes to the need to embrace innovation and new technology. But organizations should never lose sight of how important it is to talk to real people and understand their experiences. Technology moves faster than society, but engaging in meaningful conversations with real people helps you stay connected to how the audience is experiencing local news and life. Finally, learning in a community often accelerates the work. Look at the Collaborative Journalism Summit. It provides templates and formulas for success, so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. A motivated community can learn and execute faster together.
Will Fischer is a journalist covering the intersection of technology and media. He’s worked for Business Insider and New York magazine and conducted local news research for City Bureau. Follow Will on Twitter @willfisch15 or email him at willfisch15@gmail.com.
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 support an informed society in New Jersey and beyond. The Center is supported with funding from Montclair State University, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Democracy Fund, the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium, the Independence Public Media Foundation, Rita Allen Foundation, Inasmuch Foundation and John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. For more information, visit centerforcooperativemedia.org.
