Autumn Phillips

Better News: Post and Courier philanthropic effort nets $1 million

Like many newspapers, The Post and Courier  was experiencing a drop-off in local advertising spending, which meant diminishing revenues. However, the Charleston, South Carolina, daily decided to adjust course and focus on philanthropy as a way to pay for its journalism.

The new fundraising model proved so successful that The Post and Courier was able to raise $1 million to support a statewide investigative fund and education lab.

Executive Editor Autumn Phillips recently wrote a report for API’s Better News initiative about The Post and Courier’s stellar fundaising effort. She shares the details with host Michael O’Connell on the latest episode of the Better News podcast.

The Better News podcast is a partnership between It’s All Journalism and the American Press Institute to a) showcase innovative/experimental ideas that emerge from the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and b) share replicable strategies and tactics that benefit the news industry as a whole. Sign up for the Better News newsletter to receive news about the latest resources, case studies, and insights. For more news about the It’s All Journalism podcast and future episodes of Better News, sign up for the weekly IAJ newsletter.

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523. Will Be Wild podcast explores lead up to Jan. 6 insurrection

Andrea Bernstein and Ilya Marritz had already explored the presidency of Donald Trump with their Trump, Inc. podcast for WNYC, but the events of Jan. 6, 2021 showed there was more to the story. Bernstein talks to It’s All Journalism host Michael O’Connell about Will Be Wild, which examines what led up to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. 

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