Reaching Audiences Where They Are: What Connie Ballmer’s NPR Donation Signals for Philanthropy

Connie Ballmer gets it.  

Her $80 million donation to NPR, isn’t notable just because of the sum. It’s also important to journalism philanthropy because it signals a shift from supporting the cause of journalism to investing in work that reaches audiences where they are.

Ballmer didn’t make the largest ever donation by a living donor to keep the lights on at NPR. Her money is meant “to support the digital innovation that is essential to meeting the needs and serving the interests of public media audiences wherever they are and whenever they seek information.”

That distinction is important. It addresses one of the key findings of The Pivot Fund’s landscape work in the Great Lakes states of Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois, as well as Georgia. There’s a major disconnect between how people access news and information and where journalism can most often be found—in particular work produced by media professionals.

While news media are tied to websites, broadcast outlets and newspapers, many people, particularly millennials and Generation Z have shifted almost exclusively to social media. Meanwhile, baby boomers and Generation X move between digital and legacy platforms in search of information. 

Ballmer’s directive to meet “audiences wherever they are and whenever they seek information,” acknowledges this change in behavior. It puts the audience ahead of journalism, at a time when the focus is still platforms that no longer fit people’s lives. 

Days before Ballmer stepped for NPR, the parent company of the Baltimore Banner bought the Pittsburgh Gazette, which had been scheduled to close. The Gazette is one of the oldest newspapers in the nation. Its loss was mourned by journalism, but what about the public? 

Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism rescued a paper that its owners said had lost more than $350 million in two decades—$350 million. The Gazette will morph into a non-profit and continue to publish. 

They will likely get grants to provide specific coverage types, as well as general operating expenses, but will anybody read it? Will it reach its audience wherever and whenever they seek information?

That’s the question that philanthropy has to begin asking.