Author Archives: Tracie Powell

An evening of politics, comedy and community offered a lesson in giving audiences something worth paying for. I went to see Don Lemon and D.L. Hughley at Atlanta Symphony Hall on Friday night and found myself thinking about the business of independent media. For transparency: A friend invited me. She is a “Lemon Head,” theContinue reading “What Don Lemon Can Teach Publishers About Earned Revenue”

California has taken a meaningful step toward helping local news outlets keep journalists working. Whether the smallest community publishers can afford to access that help is another question.  The Community NEWS Act, or AB2222 provides refundable employment tax credits beginning with the 2027 tax year. That means starting in 2028, eligible outlets, including nonprofit newsrooms,Continue reading “California Journalism Tax Credits and the Barriers Facing Community Publishers”

California’s new journalism law gives philanthropy an opportunity to help public investment reach community news outlets that might otherwise miss out.  It’s a step toward stabilizing parts of the state’s ecosystem, but other areas still need to be shored up, and that’s where funders can take the lead.  On Sept. 30, Gov. Gavin Newsom signedContinue reading “California’s Journalism Law Leaves Important Work for Philanthropy”

I spend a lot of time talking with independent publishers about hiring. Usually, the conversation starts with what they can’t offer. They can’t match the salaries of larger news organizations. They can’t always offer fancy offices or big benefits packages. And they certainly can’t promise the stability that once came with a job at aContinue reading “Don’t Just Mourn the McClatchy Layoffs. Recruit the Talent”

A small independent newsroom recently came to us with difficult news: A longtime funder had decided it would no longer support the newsroom directly. The grant was $150,000. For a large institution, $150,000 might represent a line item. For a small newsroom, losing $150,000 can mean a reporter you can no longer afford. A beatContinue reading “Apply or Pass? How to Know When a Grant Is Worth Your Time”

For decades, news ecosystem analyses have been commissioned primarily to help funders understand where resources should go. While that remains an important purpose, it leaves an equally important question unanswered: How can this research help the people doing the work? At The Pivot Fund, we believe ecosystem research should be just as valuable to publishersContinue reading “More Than a Landscape Analysis: How Publishers Can Use Ecosystem Research”

Before journalism philanthropy decides which support organizations should merge, it should first answer a more fundamental question: Who is all of this for? By Tracie Powell Journalism philanthropy has entered an important moment of self-examination. As funding becomes more constrained, leaders are asking difficult but necessary questions about the future of journalism support organizations. ShouldContinue reading “Mergers Are a Tool, Not a Strategy”

As immigrant-serving and community-rooted journalists face legal threats, detention, funding cuts, and political retaliation, some are being forced out of public view altogether. BY TRACIE POWELL Across the country, trusted community journalists are losing grants, facing detention, navigating legal threats, and in some cases disappearing from public view altogether — not because their work lacksContinue reading “The Newsrooms Philanthropy Can’t See”