Tracie Powell is the founder of The Pivot Fund and the founding fund manager of the Racial Equity in Journalism Fund. She was a 2021-22 Fellow at The Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and a 2015-16 JSK Fellow at Stanford. She graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 2011 and received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from The University of Georgia's Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Tackling News Deserts
How philanthropies and nonprofit newsrooms are making a difference
Registration is essential in order to ensure attendees can gain access to the National Press Club.
Jan 17 2024
WHEN:
Jan 17, 2024 at 6:00pm
WHERE:
Zenger Room
CONTACT INFO:
Cecily Scott Martin
MORE INFO:
Registration/tickets required
Join us for an interesting discussion about the role philanthropies and nonprofit newsrooms are playing in trying to solve the huge problem of news deserts, both in regional areas and in underserved communities in the United States.
We'll talk with leaders from the Pivot Fund, the Institute for Nonprofit News, the GroundTruth Project, and the Tiny News Collective, as well as a media expert from Axios, to talk about what's been happening and how it is (or isn't) making a difference.
This is the third panel the National Press Club has held focused on the topic of tackling news deserts. The issue is a growing problem for our democracy, as people in news deserts do not have access to the information they need to make informed decisions; leaders tend not to be held accountable for their actions; and, people can more easily live in a bubble and be inundated with misinformation.
Sara Fischer is the senior media reporter for Axios and a founding staff member at Axios. She is also a media analyst at CNN.
She authors a weekly newsletter called Axios Media Trends that reaches over 100,000 professionals across the media, tech and entertainment industries.
Fischer was named to Mediaite's "Most Influential in News Media" list for 2022. She was also named to The Washingtonian's list the 500 "Most Powerful People in Washington D.C." in 2022 and 2023. Fischer was named to Forbes “30 Under 30” Media list in 2019.
Courtney Lewis is the Chief of Growth Programs at the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN), a thriving network of over 425 nonprofit news organizations committed to public service. In this role, she builds and advances programs dedicated to generating revenue and fostering diverse talent for a rapidly growing nonprofit news field.
Courtney joined INN in 2020 to lead NewsMatch, the most sophisticated collaborative fundraising campaign for journalism in the U.S. The campaign has successfully raised over $270 million for nonprofit newsrooms. Previously, she led collaborative initiatives to diversify audience and revenue for Detroit’s public radio station and was Marketing Director for a bicycle manufacturing startup.
Kevin Douglas Grant is the co-founder and chief development officer of The GroundTruth Project, home of Report for America and Report for the World, service journalism programs now partnering with hundreds of local newsrooms in 21 countries.
Previously senior editor at GlobalPost, Grant has led reporting fellowships globally and published and spoken widely. His work has been recognized with the Edward R. Murrow, Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University and Online Journalism Awards among others.
He is an adjunct journalism professor at Georgetown University and has been a fellow at the Poynter Institute, International Center for Journalists and USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture. A graduate of DePaul University and University of Southern California, he lives in central Virginia with his wife and adopted greyhounds.
Amy L. Kovac-Ashley is the executive director of the Tiny News Collective, whose mission is to support the voices historically excluded from media and media ownership. TNC provides the tools, resources and learning community to help news founders build sustainable news organizations that reflect and serve their communities.
Kovac-Ashley has spent a dozen years coaching news organizations, executives and journalists. Her work at the Lenfest Institute for Journalism and the American Press Institute supported local news sustainability and improving organizational culture. She was also a journalism educator and administrator at West Virginia University and Georgetown University.
Previously, she was a reporter and editor in traditional and digital newsrooms across the East Coast and has a deep background in audience and community engagement. In 2022-23, she was a Reynolds Journalism Institute fellow, during which she authored the “News Executive Leadership Transition Guide.”