I spoke with Erin Millar, CEO and co-founder of Indiegraf, to discuss her work supporting independent publishers by building an operating system now used by more than 180 newsrooms across the Americas to diversify revenue, deepen audience trust and collaborate across the field. My takeaway from our conversation: "The challenge isn't proving the need for local journalism. Communities feel that every day. The challenge is finding financing models that recognize both the economic and democratic value of this work." That is precisely the gap a new Knight Foundation $5 million program-related investment in Indiegraf is designed to close. This investment powers Indiegraf’s Tech for Journalism Program, providing substantial discounts for independent news organizations that meet public benefit criteria. I met Erin 4 years ago when she was one of my earliest grantees. I remember how excited I was hearing the story of Indiegraf for the first time, and I’m even more excited now. Grant funding drove experimentation. Now there is an opportunity to invest in and scale what works. Read our full conversation here: https://lnkd.in/ebxs9K7X
Last week at the Collaborative Journalism Summit, I got on stage and said something that made me uncomfortable: You know those critics who complain that too much philanthropy goes to journalism support organizations instead of directly to newsrooms? They kind of have a point. The public good worthy of philanthropy is produced by local journalists. That means that every dollar invested in infrastructure must generate more than a dollar of value to fund actual journalists. … And then today, Indiegraf announced a $5 million investment from the Knight Foundation. How do I reconcile that? By pointing to how this capital is actually structured. This isn't a traditional grant. It’s an innovative Program-Related Investment designed to directly benefit local media organizations. Here’s how this investment delivers ROI to local newsrooms: 👉 Direct Cash Savings: It powers our Tech for Journalism Program, providing subsidies up to 70% for eligible local media. 👉 Cheaper Infrastructure: We are investing the capital into tech development that lowers the baseline cost of local news infrastructure in the long-term. 👉 Recycled Returns: Because it's an investment, future returns get recycled right back into future journalism grant-making. 👉 Commitment to Underserved Communities: We have pledged that 50% of the local media Indiegraf supports will focus on serving underrepresented communities, meaning that we won’t only build tools for revenue models that work in affluent communities. I'm incredibly grateful to the Knight Foundation, Amalie Nash and Duc Luu for innovating how philanthropic capital can be leveraged in systemic and accountable ways. If you are a local media leader, this money is meant to lower your costs. Check out Tech for Journalism Program and apply at https://lnkd.in/gkQJ_CwD. 👉 Read the full announcement here: https://lnkd.in/gFauAhnW
Time to move beyond experimental grants to scaling capital. Yes! Thank you Duc for your belief in what we're building and always being up for a critical conversation about the system.