Unpacking Property: Media, Ownership, and Power in Transformation| Examining the Journalism Philanthropy Model: A Literature Review

Louisa Lincoln

Abstract


Amid the decline of commercial local news in the United States, another model has emerged as a growing alternative: philanthropy-supported journalism. Although foundation-funded journalism is not a particularly new model, the field has seen an influx of charitable funds in recent years—since 2009, it has been estimated that foundations have invested more than $11 billion in media and journalism projects worldwide. Despite this, there has been limited scholarly research on the impact of foundation-funded journalism. This literature review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current scholarship on journalism philanthropy, synthesizing interdisciplinary literature from sociology, journalism studies, and the political economy of communication. In doing so, this review considers both the potential opportunities and limitations of this funding model for journalism, and concludes by offering suggestions for further research on the topic.


Keywords


journalism, philanthropy, nonprofit news, journalism funding

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