The U.S. news model has changed significantly since we got our start in local news — one of us at a daily newspaper in Conway, Arkansas, and the other at a small-town radio station in Vermont. We got to know these communities, one south, one north, in the company of a scrappy band of reporters who covered community meetings, wrote about local leaders, and tracked issues that affected our neighbors.

A decades-long transformation has decimated that kind of reporting.

Today, we confront a bleak journalism landscape. More than one-quarter of U.S. newspapers have shut down since 2005, according to a study by Northwestern University’s Medill School. On average, 10 local papers close every month. Local radio has traded news for “talk” and hemorrhaged audience as listeners have moved to podcasts and streaming audio. Only about one in five public radio stations cover their local communities.

The study estimates that 70 million people in more than half the counties in America now live in news deserts with little or no meaningful local news coverage.

Because of this sea-change in journalism, philanthropy is playing a growing role. Last September, a group of 22 donor organizations teamed up to provide more than $500 million to support local journalism over five years. In launching the initiative, the group said their objective was to confront “a crisis in news and information.”

The Walton Family Foundation — where one of us works — supports environmental journalism in local and national newsrooms. This funding helps news organizations hire reporters, build capacity, and develop the expertise needed to report on the science, economics, technology and policy required to report the myriad climate change stories out there.

As a result of philanthropic support for environmental journalism, journalists have published a wide range of stories about how diverse communities are working together to support resilience in agriculture, strengthen wetlands and wild places, deal with sea level rise and depleted aquifers, and protect lives and livelihoods across the country.

Here are a few stories that came from Walton Family Foundation support:

• Biden administration sets first-ever limits on ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water – The Associated Press
• The Mississippi River’s floodplain forests are dying. The race is on to bring them back. – Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk
• This new proposal for Colorado River sharing prioritizes the environment – KUNC

Without local coverage, these stories won’t get told and people will be left uninformed about how climate change affects them and how it may literally change the landscape where they live.

Citizens want this information. According to a Morning Consult Poll conducted for the Walton Family Foundation, 60% of voters agree that journalists play an important role in increasing the global understanding of climate change. A similar number say it is important for local news to cover the issue.

But as philanthropic support of journalism spreads, important questions must be acknowledged and addressed. Is the philanthropy driven by an agenda? Will it affect coverage? Will critical stories be glossed over or pet projects get an unfair advantage?

We believe news organizations should address these concerns in clear and accessible ways. Full transparency is needed so the public understands that there are no strings attached to this funding and that the independence and credibility of journalism — already under siege in our highly polarized, conspiracy-addled society — come first.

Recipients of this funding should think of this as part of an ongoing conversation with their audience.

The Society of Environmental Journalists posted exemplary guidelines around a fund that the Walton Family Foundation supported during the COVID-19 public health emergency. The guidelines stated explicitly that grantees retained “full editorial control” of the work being produced; that donors had “no right of review and no influence on story plans;” and that the agreements between donors and grantees reinforced “this policy of editorial independence.”

News organizations and funders alike must make clear that there is a firewall between the money coming in and the journalism going out.

We’re on each side of that firewall. We know this can work.

As a donor, the Walton Family Foundation encourages news organizations to be transparent. The Associated Press, for example, runs a disclaimer at the end of environmental stories funded by the Walton Family Foundation stating, “This story was supported by funding from the Walton Family Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.”

As a grantee, Planet Forward, based at George Washington University (where the other one of us works), teaches student journalists how to produce compelling stories about the planet and its challenges. We also teach that journalistic independence is critical to anyone pursuing truth and that philanthropy can support the mission without editorial pressure or second-guessing.

At a time when hardworking journalists are faced with constraints and limitations, and at a moment when their work is more vital than ever, philanthropy has an important role to play in making sure reporters can do what they do best and that the public can receive the information they need and deserve.

This article was originally published by the Poynter Institute on April 25, 2024.