This news can’t wait. And neither should you.
Today we celebrate the kickoff of the fourth annual NewsMatch campaign. Across the country nearly 200 nonprofit newsrooms are participating in the matching-gift campaign, which drives donations to newsrooms across the country and has helped to raise more than $14.8 million since 2016.
The dollars that NewsMatch helps raise go directly toward supporting the journalism that strengthens our democracy. Every day, journalists in nonprofit newsrooms dig deeper into the raw news of the day to deliver in-depth and investigative reporting that engages communities, advances solutions, and demands accountability. This is journalism that informs. This is journalism that matters. And this is journalism worth supporting.
In 2019, this news can’t wait.
In the last decade, U.S. newspapers, the largest producers of original reporting, have lost nearly half their newsroom employees. In cities from Youngstown, Ohio, to New Orleans, La., newspapers have shut their doors. When that happens, communities are left in the dark. Civic engagement, social cohesion, and public accountability erode, and with them the health and strength of our democracy. On the environment, education, health policy, and criminal justice, this crisis in local news has consequences, no matter the issue you care about most.
Nonprofit newsrooms, meanwhile, are growing with the trust and support of their communities. While overall giving is down in the U.S., charitable support for journalism is going up. Created to serve a public mission, either locally or on issues of interest where there are significant gaps in reporting, nonprofit newsrooms engage communities when and where it matters.
Whether you are an individual, a funder or a business leader, there is a role for you in helping to fill the need for news we all have in our communities.
During NewsMatch, your gift to support this work will go twice as far. Created by Knight Foundation in 2016, the program continues to power donations to public service journalism. Today the campaign has the support of dozens of local and national partners and will match up to $20,000 in individual donations to almost 200 newsrooms nationwide, the most that have ever participated, while helping newsrooms continue to develop their own fundraising capacity and long-term financial stability. This leaves an indelible imprint on the field of nonprofit news, helping jumpstart small, emerging newsrooms, supporting newsrooms that serve or are led by underrepresented communities, and strengthening both long-standing and fledgling investigative reporting organizations.
The sustainability of nonprofit news depends on your support. Whether you are an individual who can make a contribution or a local funder or business, there is a role for you in helping to fill the need for news we all have in our communities, especially at this critical time in our democracy.
This is journalism that informs. This is journalism that matters. And this is journalism worth supporting.
This news can’t wait. So why would you?
Give today and NewsMatch will double the impact of your donation.
NewsMatch is supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Democracy Fund, Facebook Journalism Project, Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, Natasha and Dirk Ziff, Present Progressive Fund at Schwab Charitable and REI Co-op, in partnership with The Miami Foundation, the Institute for Nonprofit News and the News Revenue Hub.
Jason Alcorn is NewsMatch Project Director and managing director for strategy and operations at the American Journalism Project.
