"I don't think all philanthropic institutions are optimized for picking winners, but to solve systemic problems, that's what needs to happen. Because when you have so many competing solutions, such as on publishing infrastructure, it just ends up being a waste of philanthropic capital. One more thing on the picking winners: the flip side of that is being willing to let things die."
"Audiences - citizens - have different tastes and orientations than philanthropic individuals and institutions, and it is really hard to serve two masters."
"I don't think we're in a stage, any longer, of innovation. It really is a challenge of what are the scaling solutions."
Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro's report on local journalism infrastructure reveals systemic inefficiencies in philanthropic funding. The nonprofit-dominated field lacks market mechanisms to eliminate underperforming solutions, resulting in wasted capital across publishing platforms and intermediaries. Small newsrooms report mixed value from intermediary organizations. A fundamental tension exists between serving philanthropic funders and audience preferences, as citizens and donors have different priorities. The field has moved beyond innovation experimentation into a scaling phase requiring strategic consolidation rather than continued proliferation of competing solutions.
#local-journalism-funding #nonprofit-infrastructure #philanthropic-capital-efficiency #media-sustainability
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