Agenda

More funders are turning their attention to efforts to rebuild and sustain local news, but the work is raising questions around what journalism is—and isn’t. Are we rebuilding journalism, or reimagining it? Or both? The answer differs depending on who you ask. Ultimately, there is no one-size-fits all solution to the local news crisis. Multiple approaches are needed because different communities need different things. This two-part opening plenary will dig into the various approaches funders are supporting to serve the information needs of communities across America.

Steve Waldman, founder and president of the Rebuild Local News Coalition, will give us a public policy update on federal support for local news.

At a time when disinformation about trans people is being used to undermine democracy and human rights, TransLash Media has emerged as a trusted source for narratives about and for the trans community. Imara Jones, founder & CEO of TransLash Media, will share how using the power of journalism and personal narrative can serve as a beacon of hope for trans communities all over the world.

The ACOS Alliance is a coalition of 150 news organizations, freelance journalist associations and press freedom NGOs working together to champion safe and responsible journalistic practices. We’ll hear from ACOS Executive Director Elisabet Cantenys on the organization’s mission and collaborative approach.

You’ll have an opportunity to choose between three breakout sessions:

• Reimagining and rebuilding local journalism – Dolores Huerta Room, Level B
  Co-facilitators: Lolly Bowean, Program Officer, Creativity and Free Expression, Ford Foundation; Kayce Ataiyero, Chief External Affairs Officer, Joyce Foundation
• A deeper dialogue about LGBTQ+ community stories – McGeorge Bundy Room, Level B
  Imara Jones, CEO, TransLash Media; Gina Chua, Board Member, Trans Journalists Association; Alvin Starks, Director, Equality Open Society Foundations (moderator)
• Learning and sharing for international journalism funders – Manhattan Room, 2nd Floor
  What are the issues you most care about and would like to discuss with your peers? Come to this session to share, learn and collaborate.

Grab a bite to eat with your friends and colleagues!

Jose Antonio Vargas has blazed a bold and unique path. Building on early success in journalism, he has employed storytelling in documentary film, in books, and in sparking a powerful movement to humanize and reframe the stories of immigrants as founder and president of Define American. And now, Jose is a producer of the hit Broadway musical Here Lies Love. Jose will speak with Philanthropy New York CEO Kathryn O’Neal Dunham about his remarkable journey, built on a solid foundation of the principles of journalism to tell truthful stories in search of justice.

The International Journalism Festival—the biggest annual media event in Europe, with over 500 speakers and nearly 200 sessions—is held every April in Perugia, Italy. One notable feature of the festival is that all sessions are free for all attendees, without tickets and without registration. Co-founders Arianna Ciccone and Christopher Potter will talk about the festival’s unique ability to bring together a large community of journalists, activists, media executives, academic researchers, funders and people formerly known as the audience to connect, learn, share and be inspired.

Forced to leave their home countries due to threats, persecution or censorship, exiled journalists often face significant challenges as they seek to continue their work from foreign shores. As forced exile for journalists becomes more and more pervasive in the global media landscape, it’s critical to explore why supporting exiled journalists is essential to maintaining a diverse and independent global media landscape, defending press freedom and uncovering critical stories in regions with limited or compromised media environments. Amy Goodman, host and executive producer of DemocracyNow!, and Penelope Winterhager, managing director of the JX Fund, will discuss what it takes to support journalism in exile—often the only way independent media under authoritarianism can survive.

You’ll have an opportunity to choose between two breakout sessions:

• Explore Public Policy Opportunities for Journalism – McGeorge Bundy Room, Level B
  Steve Waldman, Founder and President, Rebuild Local News Coalition
• Go Deeper on Safety and Security in Global News – Dolores Huerta Room, Level B
  Elisabet Cantenys, Executive Director, ACOS Alliance; Penelope Winterhager, Managing Director, JX Fund; Amy Goodman, Host and Executive Producer, DemocracyNow!; Sue Valentine, Director of the Media Division in Global Programs, Open Society Foundations (Facilitator)

Yvette Alberdingk Thijm, a member of the Board of Directors at Doc Society, will share a tribute to our colleague and dear friend Jess Search, who died from brain cancer this past July. As the co-founder of Doc Society and a tireless champion of independent film, Jess was a larger-than-life figure who made a huge mark on the field of social impact documentaries. She fiercely believed in the power of documentaries to change the world. Jess led on articulating Doc Society’s urgent and visionary priorities: the Climate Emergency and the Crisis in Democracy. In a letter to our community, “No Time Like The Present,” she called upon her colleagues, friends and funders to triple down on their efforts to save democracy and the fate of the planet through powerful and effective storytelling. The Doc Society leadership and its Board are in full force answering Jess’ call to advance and realize these urgent priorities.

Join us for an insightful and thought-provoking two-part closing session exploring the power of documentaries in telling investigative journalism stories. We will hear from the teams behind the films “After Uvalde” and “Victim/Suspect” on:

• Uncovering deep-rooted issues such as the failure of law enforcement in protecting certain communities;
• Best practices in sharing traumatic topics;
• How documentaries can spark important conversations and create social impact by raising awareness;
• The benefits and challenges of noncommerical and commercial distribution platforms.

Join us for a drink and a bite to eat!

“It is only in recent years that philanthropy has awakened to the wisdom of asking and engaging those most impacted by an issue what they believe should be the solutions.” Crystal Hayling, Executive Director of the Libra Foundation, will offer remarks on how philanthropy needs to change to meet the past and be an active force in bending history’s arc toward justice.

In this series of short talks, funders will hear best practices on a few important aspects of media grantmaking:

• Learning from BIPOC publishers how to make journalism philanthropy more effective
  (Tracie Powell, Executive Director, Pivot Fund)
• Practical ways to find and support small and strong newsrooms leading the reinvention of news
  (Sue Cross, Executive Director & CEO, INN)
• Best practices in supporting elections and democracy reporting
  (Angelica Das, Associate Program Director, Democracy Fund)

Media Impact Funders and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, in partnership with NORC at the University of Chicago, earlier this year conducted the first comprehensive survey since 2015 of journalism funders and the field they support. MIF Consultant Jennifer Preston, former VP of Journalism at Knight Foundation, and Jennifer Benz, Deputy Director, The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, will share the findings and insights from this consequential research.

Amy Kovac-Ashley, Head of National Programs at The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, will lead a breakout session later in the day to engage funders in a discussion around what the findings mean for the future of journalism philanthropy, including what specific steps funders can and should take moving forward.

The Solutions Journalism Network, now 10 years in operation, has advanced a growing shift in journalism, with news organizations around the world now doing more reporting that examines how people are responding to problems and what can be learned from their efforts. We’ll hear from David Bornstein, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Solutions Journalism Network, on how journalism can play a more intentional role building society’s capacity and will to deal with today’s urgent challenges.

You’ll have an opportunity to choose between three breakout sessions:

• Solutions Journalism and Solutions Storytelling in the Global South – Manhattan Room, 2nd Floor
  David Bornstein, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Solutions Journalism Network; Sky Dylan-Robbins, Founder and Executive Director, The Video Consortium; Vince Stehle, Executive Director, Media Impact Funders
• MIF/NORC/Lenfest Journalism Survey Town Hall – Dolores Huerta Room, Level B
  Amy Kovac-Ashley, Head of National Programs, The Lenfest Institute for Journalism (Facilitator); Jennifer Preston, MIF Consultant; Tom Rosenstiel, NORC Senior Fellow; Jennifer Benz, Deputy Director, The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research
• Going Local on Elections, Democracy and Journalism – McGeorge Bundy Room, Level B
  Angelica Das, Associate Director, Public Square, Democracy Fund; Lizzy Hazeltine, Fund Director, NC Local News Lab; Rashad Mahmood, Executive Director, New Mexico Local News Fund

A special performance by Grammy-nominated musician Valerie June, followed by an interview conducted by filmmaker Thomas Allen Harris.

Thomas Allen Harris, filmmaker, professor and Co-Founder of the Family Pictures Institute for Inclusive Storytelling, will share details about “My Mom, the Scientist,” his new film examining the seldom-told story of the challenges and untapped potential around African Americans’ participation in the sciences, through the life of Harris’ mom, Rudean Leinaeng, a chemistry professor, STEM advocate, and human rights activist. Scientists in the Family—a complementary project to the film—highlights Black participation in STEM using community photo sharing roadshows to source and highlight science stories in Black families.

Journalism affinity groups have long worked to provide platforms and resources to uplift communities and stories, enable more nuanced and accurate reporting, and provide career advancement through professional development, mentorship and networking. This conversation will illuminate the special challenges these groups face, and the opportunities they have to strengthen the media landscape.

• Drew Berry, Executive Director, National Association of Black Journalists
• Yvette Cabrera, President of the Board of the and National Association of Hispanic Journalists
• Rebecca Landsberry-Baker, Executive Director of the National Association of Native American Journalists
• Mythili Sampathkumar, President of the South Asian Journalists Association
• Naomi Tacuyan Underwood, Executive Director of the National Association of Asian Americans Journalists
• Moderated by Jon Funabiki, Founder and former director, Renaissance Journalism

Across the globe, 3 billion ‘lean-forward’ hours per week are devoted to playing video games, making it a powerful platform to inform, influence minds, and effect significant shifts in attitudes and perspectives for an audience that traditional journalism doesn’t reach. In this presentation, we will explore the transformative impact of two groundbreaking projects by E-line Media. The first project, “Never Alone,” is an atmospheric puzzle-platform game crafted inclusively with the Iñupiat community. The BAFTA and Peabody award winning game is based on a story passed down thousands of years, in the Inupiat language and features 26 short documentaries unlocked through gameplay. It has reached over 12 million gamers and a sequel is in development. E-Line’s next major project is an Outlaw Ocean game, leveraging the same inclusive development process – this time with investigative journalist Ian Urbina and the Outlaw Ocean project.  The game will feature a blend of compelling gameplay, unlockable documentaries and opportunities for gamers to engage with and support critical investigative journalism shedding light on crucial issues surrounding environmental concerns, human rights, and labor abuses at sea.

You’ll have an opportunity to choose between two breakout sessions:

• Extra, extra, read all about it: The latest in newspaper deals and Press Forward – McGeorge Bundy Room, Level B
  Tim Isgitt, CEO, Public Media Company; Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro, CEO and co-founder, National Trust for Local News; Lauren Pabst, Senior Program Officers in the Journalism and Media program, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Shane D. Zimmerman, President, James Hale Steinman Family Office, Chrisaway, LLC.
• Efforts to serve communities of color – Dolores Huerta Room, Level B
  Co-facilitated by Jon Funabiki, Founder and former director, Renaissance Journalism and Tracie Powell, Executive Director, Pivot Fund

A presentation to spotlight One Small Step, an initiative of Storycorps meant to bring people with different political views together.

We let ChatGPT write this one: In this closing plenary discussion, leading experts in journalism and artificial intelligence will delve into the transformative impact of AI in the media landscape, exploring its potential to revolutionize news production, verification, and personalized content delivery. At the same time, we will address the ethical concerns surrounding AI’s influence on information accuracy, bias, and media manipulation. Discover how newsrooms can harness the power of AI responsibly to uphold journalistic integrity while navigating the challenges it presents. Gain valuable insights into shaping the future of news in an AI-driven world with the Markup’s CEO Nabiha Syed and Sam Gregory, Executive Director of WITNESS.