New initiative looks to build sustainable funding streams for public media 

More Perfect, the American Journalism Project and the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation have launched an initiative to support the sustainability of public media and innovative local reporting.

The Public Media Business Transformation Initiative partly funded a three-year, $1.4 million grant announced last month to Texas Public Radio, which recently merged its operations with the San Antonio Report. The initiative plans to issue at least one other award in the fall, according to AVDF President Michael Murray. (AVDF is a supporter of Current.) 

The partners behind the initiative wanted “to make some larger-size investments in stations or outlets that looked like they were poised for very significant growth in their operations with respect to local journalism,” Murray said. 

AVDF, which has supported public media since 1967, gave $1.8 million to AJP to support the initiative, $1 million of which went to TPR. The Public Media Bridge Fund, which is not part of the larger initiative, contributed an additional $300,000. More Perfect declined to share the amount of its gift.

The support will help TPR and the San Antonio Report integrate their services and expand their reporting to cover more communities in southern Texas. 

“By bringing Texas Public Radio and the San Antonio Report together under one roof, we are building a stronger, more connected news organization,” TPR CEO Ashley Alvarado said in a statement to Current. “These gifts don’t just help us survive today; they help secure our future, ensuring we can keep serving South Texas with the high-quality journalism it deserves.”

PMBF’s support came from its new program focused on sustainability, according to Executive Director Erik Langner. The program encourages collaboration among local news organizations and potential donors to make up for the rescission of federal funding for public media. 

“We have to work better together in order to overcome that loss while not also losing local services that communities rely upon,” Langner said. 

With the grant, TPR joins AJP’s portfolio of 52 organizations that receive hands-on support in addition to funding, said AJP CEO Sarabeth Berman. 

AJP will use input from its partners in the Public Media Business Transformation Initiative to decide how to allocate funds using “their unique understanding of the field for potential investments,” Berman said.

The partners behind the initiative say they hope to inspire other funders to support public media’s sustainability. 

“Our role is to convene partners across our alliance of more than 100 organizations and help catalyze the funding these newsrooms need to grow,” More Perfect CEO John Bridgeland said. “Texas Public Radio is our first commitment, and we expect it to show funders across the country what’s possible when public media has the support to build for the future.”