Non-profit journalism on the raise in the US

"The idea of muckrakers meeting to create a new Investigative News Network at John D. Rockefeller’s majestic estate is ironic," comments Charles Lewis, one of the US pioneers in non-profit journalism in his sum-up of the recent developments. Yet that's exactly what happened.

Veterans like Chuck Lewis - founder of the Center for Public Integrity - and newer initiatives like several state centers for investigative journalism united with strong funders to undersign a declaration, the Pocantico Declaration that aims to support investigative journalism.

we, representatives of nonprofit news organizations, gather at a time when investigative reporting, so crucial to a functioning democracy, is under threat. There is an urgent need to nourish and sustain the emerging investigative journalism ecosystem to better serve the public

The declaration stabilises a movement towards non-profit journalism, that has been practiced for years in the US on small level, however it has gained immense momentum recently. The pioneers are the Center for Investigative Reporting in California, founded in 1977, and the Center for Public Integrity in Washington DC, founded in 1989. Now they are taking the lead for the many newly emerging new investigative journalism initiatives. 

The new move is significant in itself. However it comes at a time, when also other major players emphasise the importance of non-profit journalism.

Muckrakers meeting at Rockefeller's is only one of several major news in the field within one month.

In mid-June the Associated Press newsagency announced, that it establishes a new wire carrying only non-profit investigative journalism stories.

And the Knight Foundation, one of the major supporters of investigative journalism these years, announced, that it would spend 15 million dollar on investigative journalism.

Written by Brigitte Alfter