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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330. Lawsuit against Trump aims to counter assault on free press

On this week’s It’s All Journalism podcast, host Michael O’Connell talks to Kristy Parker, legal counsel for the Protect Democracy Project, about the lawsuit her organization, PEN America and the Yale School Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic recently filed against President Donald Trump. They discuss why the three organizations think the president’s actions are not just out of the norm, but violations of the First Amendment.

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