Press Forward invests $600M in local news ahead of schedule

Press Forward announced Tuesday that it has deployed nearly $600 million in capital to journalism organizations. The nonprofit achieved this milestone approximately two years before its original timeline. The funds were directed toward local news outlets facing structural financial pressures.

The organization launched in 2023 with initial support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Democracy Fund. Nineteen other funders participated in the early capitalization. By the current date, the nonprofit has expanded its donor base to 144 funders.

Dale Anglin, the executive director of Press Forward, stated that the organization will continue to raise and invest capital. She noted that the group is also broadening its range of initiatives. Anglin told The Associated Press that the industry is undergoing a major transformation that will take years to resolve.

Data from Northwestern University indicates the sector remains under strain. The number of counties without locally based professional news sources increased by 12 percent this year to reach 238. Advertising revenue and audience numbers continue to decline. More than two newspapers closed for every new outlet launched this year.

Press Forward established a $21 million impact investing fund to provide small loans to outlets that cannot secure traditional financing. The nonprofit now operates 50 local chapters. These chapters have invested $87 million to strengthen regional journalism, including $53 million in the past year.

Anglin said that while challenges in local news are universal, solutions often require local approaches. She emphasized that the organization is building for the long term. She acknowledged that some outlets will still close despite philanthropic support.

Tracy Baim, executive director of Press Forward Chicago, said her chapter is testing pooled funding models. This structure allows multiple organizations to contribute to specific initiatives. Baim explained that smaller foundations often find direct support for individual news outlets intimidating. Pooled funds reduce the risk of being associated with controversial projects.

The Chicago chapter used its first pooled fund last year to finance increased immigration reporting. Nearly $1 million from 12 donors was distributed to 12 organizations. Recipients included ProPublica, Chicago Public Media, and Block Club Chicago. The funding allowed these outlets to add reporting capacity before the Department of Homeland Security launched an immigration operation in Chicago.

A second pooled fund in Chicago focused on education. It allowed outlets to increase coverage of Chicago Board of Education elections. Baim said the goal is to amplify outlet work so they can attract new subscribers. She described this as a pipeline of potential future donors.

Maribel Perez Wadsworth, president and CEO of the Knight Foundation, said the next phase of work focuses on sustainable growth. She argued that local and regional funders working together creates a more stable financial base for newsrooms. Wadsworth stated that philanthropy alone is not a permanent business model for journalism.

The Ford Foundation announced last month that supporting journalism would become a priority. The grantmaker is overhauling its giving to focus on the building blocks of democracy. Public Media Co. has also made providing trustworthy local information a cornerstone of its work to support public radio stations. These moves indicate a shift in how major institutions view the economic value of local news infrastructure.