A report for the Democracy Fund by Dot Connector Studio’s Katie Donnelly and Jessica Clark titled Supporting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Journalism: Trends in National Grantmaking and another by Michelle Polyak and Katie Donnelly with editorial support from Jessica Clark titled Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Journalism: What Funders Can do.
Efforts in journalism to support diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) over the past decade have been ineffective in creating dynamic change in the stories, sources, and staff of news outlets in the United States. The dramatic financial downturn in newspaper advertising revenue has placed strain on all legacy journalism organizations. However, those dynamics alone do not explain the persistent gap in employment opportunities between minorities and their white counterparts seeking jobs in journalism—or excuse the historic leadership failure of large and profitable outlets to fulfill their promise to diversify their ranks.
The purpose of the first report is to begin to understand philanthropic interventions supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion in journalism from 2009 – 2015.
The purpose of the second report is to provide insights and directives for funders in the field of journalism philanthropy.
