• by Ray Schultz , May 12, 2021

The Nation has launched a nonprofit group to help educate young journalists and encourage diversity. 

The new organization — The National Fund for Independent Journalism/The National Fund on Facebook — will fund the publication’s programs to develop new talent.  

“We’re at an inflection point in our industry — we must prioritize the diversity of our newsrooms, of management, and of the content journalists produce in order for independent journalism to truly rise to cover this moment,” states Sarah Burke, development director of The Nation Fund. 

Burke adds the fund will allow the educational efforts to reach ”heights that weren’t possible within the magazine.”

The fund will support such initiatives as: 

* The Victor S. Navasky Internship Program — This will benefit five editorial interns trained in research, fact-checking and reporting, and one publishing intern, focusing on the future of the news business, including digital marketing, advertising and other functions.

* StudentNation — An editorial program to encourage college-aged journalists.

* Puffin/Nation Student Journalism Conference — An event to teach independent students best practices for covering social movements.

“From the New York Times to the New Yorker to our own masthead, The Nation has seeded the industry with the talent, passion and know-how to produce award-winning, fact-based accountability journalism,” adds Katrina vanden Heuvel, editorial director and publisher of The Nation.

Vanden Heuvel was an intern in the program. 

The Nation was founded by abolitionists in 1865.