New Nonprofit Newsroom Seeks to Fill the Gap in Investigative Journalism
ProPublica, a nonpartisan, newsroom producing journalism in the public interest, was launched in January, 2008. The new nonprofit is headed by Paul Steiger, former managing editor of the Wall Street Journal. ProPublica will be nonpartisan and non-ideological, adhering to the strictest standards of journalistic impartiality and fairness, according to Steiger.

When fully staffed, ProPublica will employ about 25 full-time reporters and editors devoted solely to investigative reporting. That would be the largest staff in American journalism devoted solely to investigating cases of exploitation; ProPublica will provide articles free of charge to leading news organizations and will publish directly through its website platform.

Roughly 60 percent of the annual operating budget of ProPublica will be devoted to the news, compared with 15 percent at a typical leading newspaper or news magazine. At a time when investigative journalism is increasingly seen as a luxury, ProPublica will seek to counter that trend through engaging original and in-depth reporting.

Funding for the organization comes entirely from the philanthropic community. Supporters include the Sandler Foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies, the JEHT Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

“ProPublica may lead the way to crafting new approaches, addressing the market failure that seems to be taking hold in some segments of publishing and that threatens a real loss to the health of our democracy,” said Rebbecca Rimel, President and CEO of the Pew Charitable Trusts and a member of ProPublica’s Board of Directors.

For more information on this organization, please visit: http://propublica.org

IFC Report Indicates Growing Demand for Investment in African Health Care Over the Next Decade
A new report from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, says spending on health care in Sub-Saharan Africa will double over the next ten years. According to “The Business of Health in Africa: Partnering with the Private Sector to Improve People’s Lives,” the private sector already plays a significant role in delivering and financing health care throughout the region. On average, the private sector delivers 50 percent of health care goods and services, with 60 percent of financing for those goods and services coming from private sources.

The report prompted the IFC to announce a new strategy for addressing Africa’s health challenges, which contribute significantly to the region’s poverty. IFC and its partners will mobilize up to $1 billion of investment and advisory services over the next five years to boost socially responsible health care in the region. Of the $1 billion, $850 million will go towards creating an equity vehicle to invest in health care businesses as well as provide long-term debt relief through local financial intermediaries. The remaining $150 million will be used to provide advisory services to local financial institutions and to work with governments to reform private health care regulation and expand formal public-private partnerships.

“If we can get all the critical players—government, donors, investors, and providers—to leverage the private health sector and integrate it effectively with public systems, we can also greatly improve the quality of care,” stated Lars Thunell, IFC executive vice president and CEO.

The report, which emphasizes the importance of the public sector’s contribution, stresses that the private sector is only part of the solution. It has the potential to bring significant improvements, such as expanding access to health services for the poorest people and reducing the financial burden on governments. The report had input from a wide range of stakeholders, including governments, private investors, and civil society, and was partially funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. For more information on this report and the IFC please visit www.ifc.org

Personal and Local Contacts Mobilize Minority Voters, Irvine Foundation Finds
A new study released by the James Irvine Foundation found door-to-door canvassing and phone banks to be more effective at increasing voter turnout than automated phone messaging, direct mail and door hangers. The study, “New Experiments in Minority Voter Mobilization,”

was commissioned by the Foundation as part of its California Votes Initiative—a multi-year effort to increase voter turnout, particularly in low income and ethnic communities. Researchers found that low income residents are less likely to vote than their wealthier peers, according to Amy Dominguez-Arms, program director of the Foundation’s California Perspectives program. “California’s electorate does not reflect the state’s diversity,” she commented.

Beginning in 2006, nine community organizations contacted over 80,000 minority and low income voters to encourage participation in election and assess best practices to improve turnout. They found the most effective way to reach more diverse voters was through personal contact, local volunteers, information-rich interaction, improved phone bank efforts and timely outreach. Efforts to adopt some of these best practices for voter outreach encourage participation in traditionally underrepresented communities, where the potential exists to narrow the voting gap, they concluded.

The nine community organizations that participated in the study were: Asian Pacific American Legal Center, California Public Interest Research Group Education Fund, Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, Central American Resource Center, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund, Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance, Pacific Institute for Community Organization, Southwest Voter Registration Education Project and Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education.

To find out more about this project and the James Irvine foundation, please visit: www.irvine.org

Report Raises Concerns and Optimism about Digital Media Targeting Children
The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, a production and research institute studying digital media’s educational potential, released the “D is for Digital” report, which analyzed the current interactive media environment for preschool- and elementary school-age children. The report, released at the Sandbox Summit of the International Consumer Electronics Show, examined more than 300 educational products—most of which, it found, do not take advantage of available research regarding children’s educational needs, particularly in a global economy where literacy and learning requirements are fast-evolving.

The study’s conclusions were derived from a review of mass market learning products for children ages 3-11. Among its recommendations to industry and policy makers were building partnerships between research and the digital industry to leverage knowledge; developing more educational videogames; encouraging multigenerational interaction and eliminating undocumented educational claims on products.

“The study’s findings are cause for both concern and optimism. While kids today are totally immersed in media, most of the new digital products are not informed by research. Producers and investors are missing a giant opportunity –to promote the literacy, creativity and problem-solving skills children will need to cooperate and compete in a global economy,” said Michael Levine, Executive Director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center.

The full report and executive summary are available at www.joanganzcooneycenter.org/publications.

Kresge Foundation Expands its Mission to Community Colleges
For the first time in its 84-year history, the Kresge Foundation has extended eligibility requirements for its Challenge Grant Program to include community colleges. The addition to the program is the result of a 2007 expansion of the foundation’s grantmaking efforts to address some of society’s pressing needs, such as creating better educational opportunities for low-income people.

“Obtaining a college degree has long been a path out of poverty and into the middle class, and it is even more important in this era of globalization,” said William F.L. Moses, senior program officer and head of the Education team at the Kresge Foundation. “What has become an increasingly important first step on this path is the community college.”

The expansion of eligibility standards recognizes the pivotal role community colleges play in educating low-income and non-traditional students. Historically, the Kresge Foundation’s challenge grants have supported universities, liberal arts colleges, and special mission and faith-based institutions to build or renovate facilities. Proposals from accredited associates-degree granting institutions are now also welcome.

The challenge grant, the Kresge Foundation’s signature grantmaking tool, awards a nonprofit organization a financial grant if it raises an agreed upon amount of funds from private sources.

For more information on this organization, please visit: www.kresge.org

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