Charitable Foundations That Support Journalism

• Journalism is a constantly evolving field. Journalism image by Zhanat Abylkassym from Fotolia.com

  Journalism is a field that is constantly evolving and it is not always easy or affordable to keep up with changing times. But resources exist to help both new reporters and mid-career professionals stay up-to-date on new technology and the changing industry landscape. A number of charitable foundations work to support journalism by providing grants and resources.

The Society of Professional Journalists

• The Society of Professional Journalists offers more than $300,000 every year for projects involving professional journalists and academic institutions. The charitable arm of the society, the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation approves grant requests for many different types of projects but focuses a great deal of its resources on projects involving ethics and professional responsibility. In 2010, one grant in particular was aimed at creating educational programs to teach the ethics of online journalism. Applications can be found online along with a list of deadlines, rules and requirements.

The Dow Jones Newspaper Fund

• The Dow Jones Newspaper Fund aims to keep new journalists entering the print, online and multimedia fields regardless of the current economic climate. The fund offers many programs and branches including the Dow Jones Centers for Editing Excellence, a business reporting internship, a news writing internship and research and study grants. Institutions can also apply for grants aimed at encouraging further education.

The McCormick Foundation

• According to the mission statement on its website, the McCormick Foundation "advances the ideals of a free democratic society by investing in our children, communities and country." This foundation has a long history of offering financial assistance to journalism organizations and universities. It has an annual budget of nearly $6 million. When considering grant requests, the foundation considers likelihood of success, overall cost and possible outcome and benefit. In regard to journalism, the fund focuses on projects that are designed to train professionals to keep ahead of the game and work with new technologies.