The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting is one of nearly 60 nonprofit news organizations selected by the Knight Foundation to participate in the Knight News Match challenge.
Knight Foundation has created a $1.5 million fund for a group of nonprofit journalism news outlets to support their work and help them expand their base of individual donors.
From Dec. 19, 2016 to Jan. 19, 2017, Knight Foundation will match donations from individual donors up to $1,000. Organizations will receive up to $25,000 in matching funds.
“We are pleased to be part of this crucial group of nonprofit journalism organizations at a time when our country needs reliable and credible reporting,” said Pam Dempsey, executive director of the Midwest Center. “This will allow our donors to double their contributions to our efforts.”
The Knight Foundation announced the match on Monday.
“The group of organizations eligible for the Knight News Match represent the diverse breadth of the committed organizations that are covering communities at the local and national level. It includes public media, organizations that do sweeping national investigations and small local organizations that are filling the reporting gaps in statehouses and city halls across the country,” wrote Jennifer President, vice president for journalism for the Knight Foundation, on a blog posted Monday.
In addition to the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, some of its media partners were also selected, including The Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism.
“Quality journalism matters. It is a buttress against the torrent of fake news we’ve seen explode in the past year, and it can help rebuild the diminishing trust many people have in society’s core institutions,” Preston wrote.
“The institution of journalism, and society itself, will be better off because of your support,” she wrote.
For more than a decade, Knight Foundation has been a leading supporter of nonprofit news organizations and innovative projects that advance the future of journalism in the digital age. The foundation continues the legacy of its founders John S. and James L. Knight, newspaper publishers who believed that informed and engaged communities are essential to a healthy democracy. Follow @knightfdn
The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting is an independent, nonprofit newsroom devoted to educating the public about crucial issues in the Midwest with a special focus on agribusiness and related topics such as government programs, environment and energy. Follow @IMidwest
