Journalism in the public interest is a key element of a healthy, thriving region.

The Foundation funds a handful of independent news organizations to produce high-quality coverage on issues central to the quality of life in Greater Philadelphia. The headlines featured below are from news organizations working with grants from the Foundation to provide coverage related to our programmatic interests in public education reform, urban planning and design, city finances, and civic life in Philadelphia, as well as state policies in New Jersey involving education and the environment. These sites are independent of the Foundation and the content linked here is their intellectual property. We hope you’ll check out their work and make their sites part of your regular news diet.

Beginning in 2011, Temple University will use a Foundation grant to incubate a new organization that will focus on local public interest journalism as a means for greater transparency and accountability in public decision-making. Once active, it will identify areas of needed coverage, elevate the work of the region’s existing corps of public affairs news outlets, and serve as a support structure for local news and information providers. Moving forward, the organization is expected to support the development of original content in collaboration with existing news providers, including the mainstream media, while identifying and testing new business models. It will seek to enhance the collective strength of the region's emerging independent news community by supporting the use of best practices in innovative technology and professional journalism to help Greater Philadelphia’s public affairs news and information ecosystem grow and thrive. For more information and to follow the development of this project as it prepares to launch, please visit the project blog for regular updates.

Are you a grantmaker interested in journalism funding? Please be sure to check out our joint publiciation with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Journalism and Media Grant Making: Five Things You Need To Know, Five Ways To Get Started.