Triggered by the Black Lives Matter Movement, journalists across the United States are questioning the news media’s complicity in sustaining systemic racism and the inequities that permeate society. Recently, for example, the Los Angeles Times published an unflinching editorial apologizing for its “history of racism” and vowed to “redouble and refocus its efforts to become an inclusive and inspiring voice of California.”
Today, this drive for a reckoning in America is also rippling through philanthropy, which has become an increasingly influential player in media as nonprofit journalism has spread in the United States.
Renaissance Journalism is pleased to announce it has awarded $80,000 in reporting grants to four Bay Area news organizations as part of its Equity and Health Reporting Initiative.
Each organization will receive a $20,000 grant for an in-depth, ambitious reporting project that explores the disproportionate impact of systemic inequities—as exposed in bold relief by the pandemic and Black Lives Matter uprisings—on the health and well-being of our region’s most vulnerable communities. Projects will be completed by May 2021.
Renaissance Journalism is excited to announce the publication of “The LaunchPad Report,” our recent research inquiry into the myriad professional, personal and systemic challenges facing many young, entry-level journalists as they seek to find meaningful employment, pursue their reporting interests, and establish themselves within the news industry.
“Perhaps now more than ever, the news industry is at risk of losing one of its greatest assets: the next generation of journalists who are passionate about social justice and equity journalism,” said Jon Funabiki, executive director of Renaissance Journalism.
