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July 25, 2008

California Foundations Consider Supporting Journalism Projects

Foundations in California are trying to fill the gaps left in the state’s political reporting as newspapers and other journalistic organizations cut back because of the economy, reports the Capitol Weekly.

The New America Foundation, with headquarters in Washington and another office in Sacramento, has proposed an online magazine called “California Next” that would include original reporting, background information, and commentaries from California policy experts and journalists.

A.G. Block, a former California Journal editor who is now director of the public-affairs journalism program at the University of California Center in Sacramento, says he has been approached by the James Irvine Foundation, in San Francisco, to develop a training program for working reporters on covering public affairs.

Dave Lesher, senior manager of the Public Policy Institute of California and a former editor of the California Journal and a reporter for the Los Angeles Times Capitol, says journalism is in a transition period.

“One of the questions is, will media be commercially viable, or does it need some kind of nonprofit component or model to survive?”

To read more about foundation-financed journalism efforts, read Nonprofit News Hounds, an article from The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

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