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After years of disruption to news organizations’ business models due to the effects of the digital revolution, multi-million-dollar funds have been created in the United States and other countries to finance new, innovative and self-sustainable independent news organizations.

The creation of these funds to revitalize journalism will be the focus of the opening keynote session of the 26th International Symposium on Online Journalism that will be held at the University of Texas at Austin, March 27-28, 2025.

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The keynote panel will feature the leaders of massive U.S. initiatives like Press Forward ($500 million+) and American Journalism Project ($180 million+), as well as projects elsewhere in the world, such as a new fund created for Brazilian journalism ($2 million) and a $50 million global fund that has been investing around the world.

Jim Brady, the Knight Foundation’s vice president for journalism, will lead ISOJ’s opening keynote session that also features panelists Dale R. Anglin, director of Press Forward; Sarabeth Berman, CEO of the American Journalism Project (AJP); Pierrick Judéaux, director of policy and ecosystem development from the International Fund for Public Interest Media (IFPIM); and Carolina Oms, director of partnerships and fundraising for the Brazilian Journalism Support Fund.

In the United States, Press Forward, launched in 2023, has so far invested more than $200 million in local news; venture philanthropy AJP has raised $183 million for local nonprofit news in the last five years; IFPIM, a multi-stakeholder initiative that launched in 2022 with $50 million to support public interest media globally is currently trying to increase its funds to $150 million. And the newest kid on the block, the Brazilian Journalism Support Fund, launched in 2024 with confirmed financial contributions of $2 million from five philanthropic foundations.

Media organizations and funders know sustainability requires more than money, though–a commitment to audiences also is key.

That’s why the first day of ISOJ will also feature the panel “How to rebuild trust in journalism after years of attacks and declines in credibility.” The session features chair and presenter Michael Bolden, CEO and executive director of the American Press Institute; Sally Lehrman, founder and CEO of the Trust Project; Joy Mayer, founder and executive director of Trusting News; and Stephen Buckley, public editor of The Dallas Morning News.

An October 2024 Gallup survey found that trust in mass media among Americans was at a record low. Just 31% percent expressed a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence in the media to report the news “fully, accurately and fairly.” A higher number of U.S. adults, 36%, have no trust at all in the media, according to the poll.

And the problem isn’t limited to the U.S. Declining trust in media organizations is a trend replicated globally.

An outlet that has navigated some of these challenges in building an audience is Teen Vogue, whose editor in chief Versha Sharma will deliver a keynote presentation the afternoon of the first day of ISOJ.

Teen Vogue “has become a leading outlet for young readers by building a strong political voice,” as reported by Forbes in late 2024.

“I think that’s one of the best parts of Teen Vogue is that we have this really loyal, dedicated readership and audience,” Sharma is quoted as saying in the Forbes article. “It feels very much like a community, especially when we’re coming together in person. We know that no matter what happens, we’re going to get through this together. That’s a big message that we want to send to our younger readers.”

Other panels rounding out the first day of ISOJ include:

• “Beyond the hype: The real impact of AI on newsrooms,” featuring chair and presenter Nikita Roy, founder of Newsroom Robots Lab; Juliana Castro Varón, senior design editor of AI initiatives at The New York Times; Uli Köppen, chief AI officer at German public broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk; Tim O’Rourke, VP of editorial innovation and AI strategy at Hearst Newspapers; and Brooke Siegel, vice president of content at Yahoo News.
• “Fact-checking in journalism during times of platform-enabled mis/disinformation,” featuring chair and presenter Lucas Graves, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Clara Jiménez Cruz, chair of the European Fact-checking Standards Network; Glenn Kessler, editor and chief writer of The Washington Post’s The Fact Checker; and Laura Zommer, CEO and co-founder of Factchequeado.
• “Global roundup: Challenges to journalism around the world,” featuring chair Dawn Garcia, director of the JSK Journalism Fellowships at Stanford University; Lina Chawaf, journalist and CEO of Radio Rozana of Syria; Dieu-Nalio Chery, freelance photojournalist from Haiti; Gregory Gondwe, managing and editorial director of the Platform for Investigative Journalism of Malawi; Luz Mely Reyes, co-founder and director of Efecto Cocuyo of Venezuela; and Mikhail Rubin, deputy editor in chief of Proekt, a Russian site that operates from exile.
• “Political satire for the digital era: From animated cartoons to memes,” featuring chair and presenter Ramón Ramirez, managing editor of The Daily Dot; Paul Alonso, associate professor at Georgia Tech; Mark Fiore, visual journalist and cartoonist; and Sarah Pappalardo, co-founder of Reductress.

The day will cap off with a welcome reception offered by the Moody College of Communication. RSVP is required.

The full program and list of speakers for the 26th ISOJ is available at isoj.org.

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