The news industry in the United States, like the rest of the world, is struggling. It is increasingly reliant on sponsorships, donations and membership fees, even though they have not yet offset the decline in advertising. This has led to a serious decline in local news outlets and smaller news organizations.
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More than half of funders surveyed by the University of Chicago said they had increased their journalism grants. Most nonprofit and for-profit news organizations reported more funding.
“We’re seeing more people… taking care of civic infrastructure by funding local news,” said Sarah Alvarez, founder of Outlier Media, a Detroit-based news organization that started in 2016.
Because this is a relatively new area of giving, it is difficult to get reliable figures on how much money goes to journalism. A report by the Boston Consulting Group estimated that $150 million is given to nonprofit journalism organizations in the United States each year. The same report said the industry needs $1.75 billion.
“This is significantly more than eight years ago,” said Tom Rosenstiel, a University of Maryland professor who worked on the report for several years. “There are more nonprofit news organizations and a lot more for-profit organizations that are funded, including The New York Times.”
Still, he said that while the situation had improved since the study was conducted in 2015, news organisations still struggled financially and with career prospects.
Hoang Hai (according to AP)
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