"Research into foundation-funded journalism is relatively scarce and disconnected. There is, for example, no single edited volume on this topic. This matters because while philanthropists and foundations often want to support journalism, it is not always clear how they should do this. Similarly, jou ... rnalists are often unsure about common practices in this area. For those interested in carrying out further research in this area, this matters because it is useful to know what methods have been used to study this topic in the past and how their findings compare to others." (Page 1) more

"There are three main reasons for the limited amount of foundation support for international journalism: a) It rarely aligns directly with the strategic priorities of a foundation (and so has to compete either with all other forms of journalism, or with numerous other ways of achieving the specific ... objectives of a foundation). b) Many foundations and journalists are unwilling to accept or negotiate the risks and challenges involved in reaching a compromise on the nature of the beat being funded. c) There are inherent difficulties associated with isolating and measuring the impact of international news. Foundations rarely advertise ‘open calls’ for funding. Instead, support emerges from an informal process of relationship building and ongoing dialogue between foundations and non-profit news organisations/intermediaries." (Key findings) more

"Very few international news organisations routinely cover humanitarian affairs. Only 12 news outlets reported on all four of the humanitarian events we analysed in 2016. Because of the high costs of producing regular, original journalism on humanitarian issues, commercial news organisations do not ... usually cover humanitarian issues, with the exception of major ‘emergencies’. Most humanitarian journalism is now funded by states or private foundations. This is worrying because claiming that particular actors or activities are ‘humanitarian’ is a powerful form of legitimacy. It is important that media about the suffering does not become a vehicle for commercial or political interests. A major challenge of foundation funding is its unsustainable nature, as most foundations want to provide start-up money, rather than giving ongoing support. Meanwhile government funding can constrain where and how humanitarian reporting takes place because of foreign policy objectives and diplomatic tensions." (Executive summary) more

"There is widespread dissatisfaction within the aid industry with the quantity and quality of mainstream news coverage of humanitarian issues and crises. 73% of respondents agreed that mainstream news media does not produce enough coverage of humanitarian issues. Mainstream news coverage was also re ... gularly criticised for being selective, sporadic, simplistic and partial [...] There is a significant discrepancy between the perceived importance of investigative journalism and consistent coverage of ongoing crises, and the news media’s performance in delivering such content. Both are highly valued, but neither are understood to be well provided. Solutions-oriented coverage and ‘early warning’ reporting were perceived to be the worst performing aspect of the news that respondents consume. However, both were also judged to be amongst the least valued aspects of news coverage. Breaking news is the best performing aspect of the news that respondents consume, but also the least valued. Expert analysis is the most highly valued aspect of humanitarian news coverage and respondents felt their current sources of news performed relatively well in this area." (Page 3) more