What to expect from Knight in 2023
Managing the tension among speed, volume and quality remains our biggest challenge
The relationship among speed, quality and volume has been on my mind a lot during my 16 months as vice president of Journalism at Knight. If you prioritize speed, you can handle more volume, but quality can suffer. If you focus on volume, you run the risk of sacrificing both quality and speed. The one thing most will agree on is that it’s pretty much impossible to succeed at speed, quality and volume all at once.
Using that framework, Knight’s Journalism team has spent a lot of time pondering our best approach for 2023, and we’ve decided that focus needs to be on quality. That means we’ll focus on patiently assessing potential grants, deepening relationships with our grantees and partnering with other journalism funders. That means we’ll need to reduce volume and move more deliberately..
In 2022, I made the rookie philanthropic mistake of not managing volume. In some ways, that was helpful, as I got to meet our grantees, Knight chairs and Carnegie-Knight deans. I visited all eight of Knight’s resident cities, and I was able to listen to thousands of ideas about how to improve the local journalism landscape we care so deeply about. But this maelstrom of activity did limit our ability to act with alacrity––especially considering that four members of the six-person Journalism team started their jobs in 2022.
The good news is that the Journalism staff is fully staffed for the first time since 2020, and that will help mitigate drop-offs in volume and speed. But we still need more time to thoughtfully consider grants, build deeper relationships with grantees and think about how each grant we make fits into the increasingly complex local journalism ecosystem.
In 2023, we want to give our review of proposals the same amount of care that went into creating them. Because we receive so many proposals, this will take time. So anyone submitting requests should expect the evaluation process to take months, not weeks. And, depending on the size and complexity of the proposal, it could take far longer. I understand that’s not optimal for organizations in somewhat urgent need of funding, but, frankly, Knight is not the best option for those in that situation.
None of this necessarily means Knight will make fewer grants in 2023 than last year; it just means we’ll narrow our focus within our existing priorities of sustainability, scalability, talent, diversity and technology. In fact, the next News @ Knight newsletters will feature the Journalism team discussing how we’ll narrow our areas of focus in 2023.
Part of the time we’ll save by reducing volume will be spent with existing grantees to better understand the impact their organizations––and our grants––are making in communities. Grantees should know that impact is our top priority, not how many stories a newsroom produces or how many Twitter followers it accrues.
While the challenges to local journalism are still legion, there have been a lot of encouraging signs over the past year, especially in the areas of revenue growth, shared-service development and community engagement. Narrowing our focus will allow us to devote more time and resources to areas where progress is already being made.
Welcome Liliana Romero!
I noted earlier that the Journalism team is now fully staffed for the first time since 2020, and that’s because Liliana Romero has started as our executive assistant. She’ll be the one who makes sense of the chaos inherent in managing schedules, travel, budgets, deadlines and Knight’s massive grant portfolio.
Prior to joining Knight, Liliana spent more than 30 years assisting CEOs and foundation executives for major organizations including Nicklaus Children’s Hospital Foundation, Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, Grant Thornton LLP and The Wolfsonian. And we’re thrilled to have her here at Knight.
Other news around the horn…
Cohorts
🚀 Are you ready to launch a local nonprofit news org? The American Journalism Project (AJP), with support from Google News Initiative, has a unique opportunity for you: a brand new 18-month incubator program with $400,000 in cold, hard cash to get you started. The program includes a roadmap for success, coaching, technical assistance and more––all taken from what AJP learned while helping to launch Capital B and Mountain State Spotlight. Four lucky individuals or teams will be selected in the first quarter. Applications are due by Feb. 15 for the first cohort, and there’s an information session on Jan. 12.
🧑🏽💼 Open Campus announces its first HBCU fellows. Six students from historically Black colleges and universities were named to the first class of the Open Campus HBCU Student Journalism Network. The fellows will be covering issues on campus for regional and national audiences. Their interests range from enrollment trends, to campus arts and sports to social justice. The fellowship is supported by Knight Foundation, Carnegie Corporation, Craig Newmark Philanthropies and the Scripps Howard Fund.
Resources
💡 Want to convert to a nonprofit? There’s a guide for that. As the new year dawns, it’s time for resolutions. Forget about going to the gym––now might be the time to switch to a nonprofit. It’s a growing trend, especially in Colorado. The Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) is ready to lend a hand with its new Quick Guide to Converting a For-Profit to Nonprofit News Outlet. The guide provides expert insights into conversion, links to tools and resources, and many questions to ponder. These include considering your public benefit proposition, the potential for giving in your community, and considering who would be on your Board of Directors. Going nonprofit can be great––but it’s not for everyone.
🔎 ProPublica offers equitable investigative training. People of color have historically been shut out of investigative journalism roles, but ProPublica is trying to change the equation with a new Investigative Editor Training Program. Up to ten editors per year will be selected from media companies around the country, with a strong focus on those from underrepresented communities. The yearlong training includes a one-week all-expenses-paid boot camp in New York City. “We are incredibly excited to play a role in training the new, diverse generation of newsroom leaders,” said Stephen Engelberg, ProPublica’s editor in chief. Applications open Feb. 1 and close on March 13.
🧪 Brush up on your science. I bet when you heard about the big nuclear fusion breakthrough with 192 super-lasers, your mind probably wandered to Dr. Evil before you considered hydrogen fuel. Thanks to a free service for journalists, SciLine, based at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, reporters can get knowledgeable scientists as sources right on deadline. This nuclear fusion roundup is a great example. Plus, reporters can put in a request to get connected to an articulate science source who fits their story topic. And for those folks who want to go deeper, SciLine will offer a quarterly training for editors on integrating science into stories. Contact sciline@aaas.org for more information.
Impact
[🧮 What LION learned from its publisher audits. As tax time approaches, the word “audit” strikes fear in many people (who, me?). But can you believe that Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers actually push and shove each other out of the way for a chance to get a Sustainability Audit? (Well, the cash payments might help.) These audits try to understand common business challenges. LION released some early findings from the first set of 75 audits. They learned that publishers need to make more decisions based on data rather than hunches. Newsrooms also need to focus more energy on revenues, hiring people and operations. And those “solopreneurs” should pay themselves a living wage and be aware of burnout. Thanks to funding from Knight Foundation, LION plans another 300 audits over the next three years.
Elections
🔔 Philly goes all-in for election collaboration. It’s never too soon to start thinking about the 2023 election, especially in Philadelphia, where there are mayoral and city council races on tap. Luckily the city has the most ambitious local news collaboration, Every Voice, Every Vote, gearing up for the campaign, with 52 newsroom and community organizations on board. Shepherded by Lenfest Institute, with additional funding from William Penn Foundation, Knight Foundation and others, the collaboration will include events, outreach to voters and materials presented in 13(!) languages. “The comprehensiveness speaks to our effort to make sure that no community, no voice is left behind,” Lenfest’s Shawn Mooring told WHYY.
🗳️ How Capital B covered the contentious Georgia runoff. As the U.S. Senate race in Georgia went to a runoff last month, the timing couldn’t have been better for a new digital news outlet in Atlanta, Capital B, serving the Black community. It was the first time since 2004 that there were two Black major-party candidates vying for the Senate. But for this (extended) race, Capital B did things differently, according to a story in CJR. They hosted four listening sessions with cohorts of Black voters: men, women, LGBTQ+ and first-time voters. They considered why some Black voters supported Herschel Walker, and why some voted for Sen. Raphael Warnock and not Stacey Abrams for governor. And when some Black seniors were directed to the wrong polling location on Election Day in November, the newsroom followed up to find out they had a smooth experience in the runoff.
Jobs
🗞️ National Trust for Local News is hiring a Chief Portfolio Officer. The CPO would oversee the community news titles and news conservancies created by the trust. They would also collaborate on the Trust’s strategy with other executives and the board. For more information about this job, go here.
🧑🏽🏫 University of South Carolina in search of UNESCO Chair. The College of Information and Communications at the University of South Carolina is seeking an outstanding candidate to become UNESCO Chair in Data, Media and Society. This person will be an international advocate for the free flow of credible information. The chair, with support of the college’s Social Media Insights Lab and in collaboration with other college faculty, will analyze and increase understanding of mis/disinformation spread through social media.
💰 Back Pocket Media in search of Business Development Manager. Back Pocket Media is hiring a Business Development Manager to lead grant, corporate sponsorship and individual donor fundraising campaigns. The position is fully remote and available in early 2023.
Upcoming Events 📅
Lenfest News Philanthropy Summit
Online
January 31–February 1, 2023
Knight Media Forum
Miami
February 21–23, 2023
Nashville
March 2–5, 2023
Austin
March 10–12, 2023
International Symposium for Online Journalism
Austin
April 14–15, 2023
Tweet of the Week
News @ Knight Credits
Written by Jim Brady, with Mark Glaser
Edited by Jessica Clark and Kara Pickman
A Knight + Dot Connector Joint