BREAKOUT III:
Philanthropy, Media and Democracy – Achieving a Healthy Balance

A healthy democracy requires a strong and independent press – and that has never been more true than today. The news media ecosystem today is in a period of rapid change and many bulwarks of journalism – especially the daily newspaper – are in decline. Philanthropy is playing an increasingly important role in supporting journalism, but the growing field needs to establish and navigate protocols for effective partnership. Effective foundations want to establish outcomes and objectives for their contributions and so many in philanthropy want to be able to gauge the social impact of media they support. At the same time, many journalists push back on efforts to require impact assessments, in fear that intrusive metrics will undermine their independence. This panel will explore how foundations and media outlets can work together to support a vigorous fourth estate and understand the positive impact of media, without undermining its independence and integrity.