• by Ray Schultz , September 11, 2023

The Knight Foundation revealed that it is providing a big chunk of the $500 million being infused into local news operations in an initiative headed by the MacArthur Foundation: some $150 million. 

In addition, Knight is investing nearly $15 million in organizations focused on building the tools and services that support journalists and publishers. 

The large donation by Knight is part of the Press Forward initiative announced last week. The total sums will be granted to local news organizations over the next five years. 

The effort is backed by 20 donors. 

Progress on “every other issue, from education and healthcare to criminal justice reform and climate change, is dependent on the public’s understanding of the facts,” said John Palfrey, president of the MacArthur Foundation, in announcing the program.