The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private foundation that supports non-profit organizations all over the world through grants and making impact investments. The MacArthur Foundation headquarters are located in the heart of Chicago’s Loop in the famous Marquette building. There are also offices located in India and Nigeria.
Recently, the foundation began sending massive funds to support local news efforts. MacArthur is leading the Press Forward initiative with a local chapter exclusively in Chicago, called Press Forward Chicago. It is a coalition of ten foundations committed to sustaining local news outlets ensuring that Chicago residents have reliable news sources at their disposal. Early financial projections for Press Forward Chicago alone neared $10 million, with $500 million projected for the initiative as a whole.
According to the MacArthur website, “Since 2005, approximately 2,200 local newspapers have closed, resulting in 20 percent of Americans living in “news deserts” with little to no reliable coverage of important local events.” The Press Forward initiative works to combat that and regain Americans’ trust in institutions. Pooling together this money will help news outlets reduce independent costs, explore new streams of revenue and further support publications across Chicago.
In many of the donors’ eyes, restoring local news outlets is a matter of restoring democracy. John Palfrey, MacArthur Foundation president, stated in an interview with Fortune News, “Philanthropies that recognize the need to strengthen democracy are beginning to see that progress on many different issues depends on the public’s understanding of facts.”
“Productive civic action, essential for a functioning democracy, relies on credible local news,” stated Andrea Sáenz, president and CEO of The Chicago Community Trust.
As a result of Press Forward, a network of chapters have sprouted all over the country in places such as Minnesota, Alaska and Philadelphia in an effort to revitalize local news for people all over the country.
Such as Minnesota, Alaska and Philadelphia in an effort to revitalize local news for people all over the country.