The Investigative News Network (INN) is happy to announce that the Democracy Fund has approved a grant up to $500,000 over two years in in INN to support programs that further the democratic process by informing communities with investigative and public service journalism.
"The Democracy Fund understands that a vibrant free press keeps democracy healthy," says Kevin Davis, INN's CEO. We're delighted to be part of their portfolio of investments in organizations and institutions doing critical work to keep our society open, transparent, and fair."
The grant will support programs to grow the audience, impact, and sustainability of independent, nonprofit news organizations. With these funds, INN will continue its investment in best-practices driven publishing technologies, training programs for nonprofit news executives and collaborations amongst INN’s 90+ members and outside media and community organizations.
"A well functioning democracy requires robust investigative journalism," says Tom Glaisyer of the Democracy Fund. "Local investigative journalism has been cut back in recent years and we are tremendously excited by the work INN is doing to strengthen the emerging community of online outlets serving communities across the country."
The Investigative News Network is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization dedicated to advancing excellence and sustainability in the nonprofit investigative and public service sector. INN was founded in 2009 to help the increasing number of nonprofit newsrooms pool resources, promote editorial collaborations and get wider distribution of their work.
[If you'd like to know more about how The Democracy Fund sees the emerging media landscape, read this thoughtful post by Tom Glaysier, investment principal at the fund: "Local Journalism: What Will The New Ecosystem Look Like?" -- LW]