Rita Allen Foundation Joins News Match to Expand Support for Science Reporting and Nonprofit Journalism

When we talk about the power of journalism we often talk about its ability to reveal something new about the world. Nowhere is that more evident than in reporting on science, where the work of journalists can literally make our complex world more visible, more immediate and more understandable. The best science journalism is a bridge connecting critical research and new discoveries to current debates about policy and people’s daily lives.

Almost exactly a decade ago Andrew Revkin wrote on his Dot Earth blog at the New York Times that science reporting was imploding. Looking ahead he predicted that “science journalists will remain a threatened, if not endangered, species.” And in many ways the last 10 years have borne that out, as science desks at major newsrooms have shrunk or disappeared.

And yet in that period, nonprofit newsrooms dedicated to covering science through environmental investigations, health journalism, and energy reporting have flourished. More than two dozen are now part of News Match, the largest-ever grassroots fundraising campaign for nonprofit journalism. Indeed, after 21 years writing for the New York Times Revkin now writes for ProPublica, one of the award-winning nonprofits in News Match where science journalism has found a new home.

This month we are thrilled to announce that the Rita Allen Foundation is joining News Match as a partner to match donations to 10 nonprofit newsrooms that specialize in trustworthy and critical journalism rooted in science. The Rita Allen Foundation has long been interested in issues surrounding the media’s role in fostering a healthy democracy and the importance of accurate and compelling science communication in helping us understand our world.

“Now more than ever, the public is seeking trusted sources of information about issues that matter,” said Elizabeth Good Christopherson, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Rita Allen Foundation. “Together with our News Match partners, we are bolstering community support for robust nonprofit science news and innovative approaches to engagement.”

News Match is a $3 million fund supported by the Democracy Fund, Knight Foundation, MacArthur Foundation and the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation. The foundations are doubling donations to 110 news organizations through Dec. 31. Since the launch of News Match, five new foundations, including the Rita Allen Foundation, and more than 20 local donors and funders have set up additional challenge funds.

For decades now we’ve seen a troubling attack on scientific data, upheavals in funding and support for basic science, and undermining of scientific consensus on critical issues facing our nation. These trends are part of a broader assault on truth and facts that affects both journalism and science.

Journalists and scientists share a deep concern for finding the truth and sharing it. The Rita Allen Foundation has long been a champion of trustworthy and transformative ideas to strengthen our democracy. We need to support good science and quality news today. By joining News Match the Foundation is not only helping to support science journalism, but also challenging others to do so as well.

You can find and donate to newsrooms reporting on science by visiting NewsMatch.org and using the “Find a Nonprofit Newsroom” tool.