Category Archives: Analysis

Earlier this week, a federal jury convicted Carlos Watson, the co-founder of Ozy.com, for defrauding investors and lenders while promoting his news media startup. His conviction will undoubtedly make it harder for other media founders working to do the right thing. Founders must exercise comprehensive and rigorous due diligence to ensure their business’s integrity, legality,Continue reading “Essential Due Diligence Checklist for News Leaders”

A documentarian and a journalist who follow Atlanta’s refugee and immigrant communities teamed up to give audiences a glimpse into the lives of young refugees from Myanmar. “The Third Country” is a collaboration between Tomorrow Pictures and 285 South. It is a film about Georgia’s growing refugee community from Myanmar, formerly Burma. In 2022, theContinue reading “What makes the Tomorrow Pictures & 285 South collaboration work?”

The board members of NOISE – a hyperlocal, nonprofit, Black-led news site whose name is the acronym for North Omaha Information Support Everyone – knew they had an opportunity and a problem.  The opportunity – public investment in North Omaha was set to rise, and the need for accountability reporting was higher than ever. NOISEContinue reading “A Pivot Fund case study: Making NOISE in North Omaha”

Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) empower individuals to shape the philanthropic landscape. Tech journalist Jason Del Rey recognized the potential of DAFs when he leveraged his fund to support the launch of The Pivot Fund, and our work to strengthen BIPOCTM-led publishers in local communities. Del Rey’s action showcases the flexibility and strategic giving opportunities that DAFsContinue reading “Support trusted local news and promote equity with DAFs.”

I’m passionate about delivering accurate and meaningful information to my community, so I used my journalism degree to join a Spanish-language newspaper, signing on as a consultant to bring the publication into the digital age. After a year of offering recommendations that went unimplemented, I left and started my own digital news site in Charleston,Continue reading “Spanish-language media needs to create a new legacy”

In 2024, the journalism community will recognize just how different the future of local news is going to look compared with its past. That future is already here. A recent Washington Post article reported on the swell of trained journalists and other content creators leveraging social media and messaging platforms to meet audiences where they are. TheContinue reading “The year we see the future of local news won’t look like its past”

Editor’s Note: For the past month, The Pivot Fund has been asking hyperlocal publishers how they’d spend $500 million on local news in light of philanthropic efforts to do just that. Here’s what Mark Trahant, editor-at-large of ICT, had to say. “The idea of a $500 million investment in local journalism is invigorating – andContinue reading “ICT’s Mark Trahant’s $500M Vision for Local News and Information”

Published by the International Society for Online Journalism (ISOJ) “If journalism entrepreneurs are “agents of innovation,” (Carlson & Usher, 2016, p. 563) then the color line compels BIPOC publishers to become architects of necessity, balancing the constraints of digital news production with the information needs of the communities they serve and the demands of theContinue reading “Architects of Necessity: BIPOC News Startups’ critique of Philanthropic Interventions”

The year Wendi C. Thomas founded MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, she cried “not infrequently.” She had multiple moments of doubt mounting in her head. She’d wake up in a panic in the middle of the night, her stomach in knots, remembering how much credit card debt she had to take on to keep herself afloat. Continue reading “Wendi Thomas and Amethyst Davis on the patriarchy of philanthropy”

How does the intervention of philanthropic funding impact the health and sustainability of BIPOC-founded news organizations? And what do we even mean when we use the term “sustainability?“ Those questions were at the core of my keynote speech last week alongside Dr. Meredith Clark, founding director of the Center for Communication, Media Innovation and Social ChangeContinue reading “Ethnic Media is Local News”