Author Archives: Tracie Powell

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”

When Atlanta journalist Mario Guevara was detained by ICE earlier this year while covering a protest, the impact was immediate and devastating. Mario, who has been a trusted voice in Atlanta’s Hispanic community for more than a decade, built MG News into a newsroom reaching more than 112,000 people across the South. His arrest hasContinue reading “Why Supporting Immigrant-Serving Journalism Matters Now”

In Kansas City, a Black-owned newsroom turns reporting into action, tackling food insecurity while rebuilding civic trust. Community-rooted journalism is more than reporting—it listens, responds, and organizes alongside the people it serves. Few examples illustrate this better than Pivot Fund grantee The Kansas City Defender. When the last grocery store in a historically Black neighborhood shutContinue reading “Journalism as Community Power: The KC Defender’s Food Program”

When federal immigration authorities detained veteran journalist Mario Guevara this summer, the ripple effects spread far beyond his family. Guevara, who has reported on and for Atlanta’s Spanish-speaking community for more than a decade, has become one of the longest-jailed journalists in the United States. His detention has raised alarms not only about press freedomContinue reading “Carrying the Torch: Oscar Guevara Steps Up for MG News”