The billionaire media owner of Philadelphia’s two big papers gives them away to a new institute owned by an existing charitable foundation, feeds them a starter float of $20m – and says he’s done it “because of the journalism”. Salvation for the struggling Inquirer and Daily News? Perhaps: this seems a natural, more tangible extension of the US non-profit surge that has seen dozens of charity-owned news websites developed. It’s one way rich men like Gerry Lenfest think they can keep quality reporting afloat in a sea of clickbait.
Is this, then, the answer to journalism’s woes, asks a chorus of American pundits? Don’t hold your breath. Not many press proprietors share Lenfest’s philanthropic passions. Nor does charitable ownership deny the need, over time, to construct a stable business model. Philadelphia can only be one future ingredient of a complicated ownership mix.
But don’t frown too quickly either. Those of us who work for the Guardian and Observer recognise the same rare motivation here. The Scott family showed it 80 years ago when they gave the Manchester Guardian and Manchester Evening News away to the new Scott Trust. Journalism came first. It couldn’t be measured in shillings and pence, in hedge-fund bets and venture capital calculations. It had a life and a role of its own. None of which, to be sure, has ever proved easy to sustain: the struggles and challenges are there day by day. But at least it helps tell journalists what they’re there for.
And watch this burgeoning space. Sir Ray Tindle, at 90, has announced that he, too, is giving a raft of titles in London and Dorset away: to the managers who run them. Continuity plus generosity in the quest for perpetuity.
