Question re: Fiscal sponsorship limitations for journalists

[Josh Wilson]

Hello folks. I'm looking for some feedback on creating a policy around fiscal sponsorship for journalism.

Independent Arts & Media is a nonprofit fiscal sponsor with a special focus on media and journalism projects. We were the bridge for the SF Public Press while they awaited the final IRS ruling on their tax status, and we also sponsor a variety of magazines, websites, etc.

Given the IRS's reluctance to approve new journalism nonprofits (perhaps in part due to the fact that journalism has largely been a commercial endeavor in the U.S.) we are being proactive by taking extra steps to ensure that the programs we sponsor are doing definitively noncommercial work — work that could not survive or thrive in the commercial sector.

To this end, we include the following text in our sponsorship policy manual:

·      If Project is a formal, professional, public-interest journalism program, it cannot run advertising, sponsorship or underwriting from businesses or institutions that it would reasonably be expected to report on as a public-interest news source; nor can Project devote significant resources to producing coverage that might be regularly (daily or near-daily) produced by most commercial news media.

Again, this was put in the manual to make sure that the journalism projects we sponsor are definitively noncommercial in nature.

What I didn't expect was that this policy might be interpreted as a form of censorship.

In fact, one applicant to our sponsorship program withdrew their proposal because of that policy — not because they weren't doing public-interest work, but because of the potential for censorship that it invokes.

On the one hand, we do want a "filtration system" and only provide support to appropriate projects.

On the other hand, we do not want to be associated with a censorship policy. The point of our fiscal sponsorship program is to empower public-interest producers, after all.

I welcome any feedback and reactions to the foregoing

Thanks!

Josh / www.artsandmedia.net

[Michelle Ferrier]

Hi Josh,
I find the statement you use problematic in a couple of ways. One, sponsorship is a way for nonprofit entities to wean themselves from foundation support. Nonprofit doesn't mean not making money. Many institutions have been able to provide firewalls between their editorial functions and their financial supporters. A statement that clearly asks for there to be division of labor would suffice to ensure editorial isn't tainted (in an ideal world of course.)

The second phrase about devoting significant resources to producing coverage that might be regularly produced by most commercial news media, seems problematic as well. Many hyperlocals jump into spaces previously occupied by commercial media, either because they are neglecting certain communities or populations or topics within their coverage area. The qualifier, "daily or near-daily" might help, but it seems that this would be well nigh impossible to monitor or distinguish for a hyperlocal operating within a market already served by a commercial media interest. Or for a topical site that covers an area largely ignored by mainstream media.

So by my interpretation, you've stifled the ability to make money and to create content for just the types of projects that would most need fiscal sponsorship.

Have you asked the Online Media Legal Network to help you with a statement? http://www.omln.org/

Hope this helps!
Michelle Ferrier, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Elon University School of Communications
Founder and Publisher, LocallyGrownNews.com

---

From: jtm...@googlegroups.com [jtm...@googlegroups.com] on behalf of Josh Wilson [mr.joshu...@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2013 8:06 PM
To: jtm...@googlegroups.com
Subject: {JTM} Question re: Fiscal sponsorship limitations for journalists

--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "Journalism That Matters" group.
To post to this group, send email to jtm...@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
jtmlist+u...@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/jtmlist?hl=en
WEBSITE: http://www.journalismthatmatters.org