A 2008 political academic article looking at the historical problems of liberal foundations, primarily the Ford Foundation, in funding media activism and raising questions and concerns for current media activist groups. By Michael Barker.
Author:
Michael Barker
Description:
Michael Barker presents this political and academic research paper on the role of liberal foundations, primarily Ford Foundation, in the history of media activism, concluding there is a "problematic nexus between liberal philanthropy and progressive media reform" and offering some "recommendations for how media activists may begin to move away from their (arguably unsustainable) reliance on liberal philanthropy."
The Media Research Hub is a resource for researchers, advocates, and
practitioners working for a more democratic and participatory public
sphere. The Hub offers various collaborative tools including a rich resource database, collaborative grants, news, events and opportunities related to media research.
Description:
The Media Research Hub is part of the SSRC's Necessary Knowledge for
a Democratic Public Sphere program, which works to ensure that debates
about media and communications technologies are shaped by high-quality
research and a rich understanding of the public interest.
The program focuses on building a stronger culture of collaboration
between scholars, advocates, practitioners, and policymakers in the
field. Public policy and participatory democracy are improved when
the producers and users of research are better connected, and have
better access to data.
The program operates primarily through collaborative grant
competitions, workshops, working groups, and initiatives designed to
expand access to data and other resources in the field. Three of its
principal activities are represented on the Research Hub:
The Resource Database--a community-editable tool for mapping and navigating the media and communications field
The
Data Consortium for Media and Communications Policy, which works to
expand access to datasets about the media and communications
environment.
The Collaborative Grants project, which includes
research fellowship competitions and mechanisms for signaling research
needs within the community
A look at funding outcomes and technical assistance to communities of color.
Author:
Luz Guerra, lguerra@mindspring.com
Description:
The Saguaro Grantmaking Board began this inquiry into technical assistance
and progressive organizations in communities of color in order to inform
our activism as a funding body. The research I conducted was based on two
primary questions: What are the technical assistance needs of Saguaro’s
grantees and other progressive organizations from communities of color,
and what role might the Saguaro Board play in helping these organizations
meet their technical assistance needs? The first question, on the surface,
appears simple enough to answer; ask the question, compile the answers.
Listening to the many voices of activists of color, funders and TA providers,
however, I became drawn into the complexity of their answers. Learning
about the technical assistance needs of our progressive organizations of
color is a many-layered proposition.
A new report by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance argues that a
publicly owned information infrastructure is the key to healthy
competition, universal access, and non-discriminatory networks.
Author:
Becca Vargo Daggett, Director, Telecommunications as Commons Initiative
Description:
Many telecommunications companies are offering to build a citywide
wireless or even wired network at little or no upfront cost to the
city. That arrangement is especially attractive to local elected
officials who fear that government lacks the expertise to manage a high
tech network and who worry about the possible impact on their budget.
“This is an excellent time to remember to look that gift horse in the
mouth,” maintains Becca Vargo Daggett, the report’s author and the
director of the Institute’s Telecommunication as Commons Project.
“Even
deals framed as coming at no cost to the city require the public sector
to enter into extended contracts to pay millions for their own services
over the new privately owned network. Cities owe it to themselves and
their citizens to carefully evaluate the costs and benefits of public
ownership.”
Ms. Vargo Daggett also notes that cities
that own infrastructure like roads and water pipelines should not fear
owning the physical information network. “Concerns about obsolescence
are overstated. Fiber optics is the gold standard, with essentially
unlimited capacity and a lifespan measured in decades. Wireless
technology is rapidly evolving, but its price is low and the payback
period is short.”
Moreover, unlike investments in
traditional infrastructure, an investment in information networks can
generate a significant return. “The investment will not only pay for
itself, but can generate revenue that can pay for other important
municipal services.”
A 2005 guide for philanthropists committed to positive social change.
Description:
This guide explores four possible approaches to building a broader, stronger, more successful progressive movement-and how funders can support that movement.
The Independent Press Association announced that it is ceasing operations.
Description:
The Independent Press Association announced that it is ceasing operations. IPA is taking this action due to the inability to raise the funds necessary to continue ongoing operations and to resolve debts to Indy Press Newsstand Services publishers. Because of this, the IPA board voted to shut down operations in order to liquidate the assets of the organization and distribute the resulting funds fairly to all of IPA's creditors. For more information contact IPA via: http://www.indypress.org/
This article looks at how the public has a right to exercise greater control over
foundation
grant making.
Author:
Mark Winston Griffith
Description:
In a city notorious for unscrupulous landlords and the unchecked
power of corporations, there is one group that easily inspires the
most angry whispering among the heads of many community organizations
-- philanthropic foundations.
Tales are
told and told again about program officers who don't understand the work they
fund; about community groups being made to dance on strings by their
foundation patrons; about the capricious way that foundations dole out grants,
particularly to small organizations.
For years critics of foundation practices
have argued that because foundation dollars are tax-sheltered monies, much
of which would otherwise be sitting
in the US Treasury, the public has a right to exercise greater control over
foundation
grant making. Indeed, members of Congress are attempting to increase
the amount that foundations are legally mandated to give away every year, though
their efforts are meeting resistance.
And groups like the National Committee
for Responsive Philanthropy,
which was created in 1976, promote "public
accountability and transparencies among foundations". ...
Grantmaker perspectives on funding social justice media and media advocacy. A 2003 report that frames the question of what constitutes funding for
progressive media, provides an overview of what is happening in the
field of media funding, relates perceptions and experiences that
funders have with their media projects and indentifies obstacles that
keep funders from supporting media activities.
By Nan Rubin, Sharon Maeda
