In a column that appeared on PoynterOnline, a former newspaper executive analyzes the prospects for foundation-supported journalism as more than two-dozen news-media organizations meet this week to discuss forming a national nonprofit investigative network.

“To a degree that has surprised many people, foundations and philanthropy have ramped up in multiple ways to fill fast-emerging information gaps or create entirely new ways of producing news that citizens need,” writes David Westphal, a senior fellow at the Center on Communication Leadership and Policy.

Representatives from National Public Radio, Huffington Post, the Center for Investigative Reporting, and other prominent news-media outlets and nonprofit groups gathered on Tuesday for Watchdogs at Pocantico, a three-day conference at a former Rockefeller estate in upstate New York.