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Dozens of funders, donors and journalists gathered on Jan. 23 at the University of Southern California’s Wallis Annenberg Hall to discuss investments in journalism.
Among the panelists was this reporter, who highlighted BenitoLink’s partnership with local organizations such as the Community Foundation for San Benito County and its seed funding to create the county’s only nonprofit news organization.
This reporter also highlighted BenitoLink’s underwriter program in which local community organizations such as the Rotary Club of Hollister and the San Benito County Farm Bureau support reporting on specific topics. BenitoLink retains all editorial control.
The summit included keynote speaker Maria Ressa, 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and CEO and Cofounder of Rappler, a news organization in the Philippines.
Her speech centered around journalists’ responsibility to inform the public and hold those in power accountable.
Ressa said “crisis is an opportunity” for journalists though it takes “sacrifice” to fight for democracy.
The all-day event included six panels which looked at philanthropy opportunities and the journalist pipeline.
USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism dean Willow Bay and UC Berkeley Journalism dean Michael Bolden discussed their respective programs, artificial intelligence, and trust in journalism.
“Journalists are part of the community,” Bolden said. “They love their communities. The love of community means they’ll do better stories and can still be critical.”
This was the second such meeting organized by Paulette Brown Hinds with the Inland Empire Journalism Innovation Hub+Fund. In 2023, she hosted the event at Stanford University where BenitoLink Executive Director Leslie David spoke about BenitoLink’s creation after local residents said they were concerned about the lack of news coverage of local government.
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