Help us change this country one journalist at a time

Help us change this country one journalist at a time

From Dori Maynard

Since 2008, the news industry lost 1,000s of journalists of color. With weakened industry support for our work to train & retain journalists & managers of color, we need your help

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Update #2

about 9 years ago

Dori Maynard, institute president, passed away today. She was 56, a tireless advocate of diversity in the media. We are heartbroken.

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Why should I donate?

Donate to the Maynard Institute and together we will promote fair and accurate coverage for all members of our society.

According to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, since 2008 the industry lost 2,700 journalists and media managers of color. We don’t even have hard numbers for most of the new digital sites, because many decline to reveal those. Google's recent revelations indicate they are even  further behind.

This leaves newsrooms without the cultural competency to accurately cover the entirety of their communities. What we often get is a terrifying picture that fuels mutual distrust. The devastating effect of inaccurate media coverage of communities of color is hurting us all. With so many Americans still living racially and economically isolated lives, we depend on the news media to teach us about the neighbors we don't know. Right now the media industry is failing. That is why our work is so important. 

Graduates of our programs are talented, successful journalists who are helping to lead this industry forward. 

We are doubling down on our efforts to increase our training programs and  ensure accurate and equitable media coverage for all.

More about us

The Maynard Institute is the oldest organization in the nation that trains and helps retain multimedia, multicultural journalists. With weakened industry support for our work, now we need your help to build the next iteration of training so that we can give our graduates the tools they need to not only survive but thrive and ensure that the news and the news media reflect the country.

Our groundbreaking work also includes a watchdog component that holds the media accountable, and we are the only organization training community members to work directly with their local newsrooms to help create more balanced coverage

Your donation does strengthen and support our work.

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Thank you to our generous sponsors:

Donald E. Graham | Andrews-McMeel Universal Foundation | The McClatchy Company Foundation | Frank Blethen and The Seattle Times | Kevin Merida | Janet Dewert Bell | Jean Marie Brown | Christensen Heller Gallery | Michael K. Frisby | Mary Hamilton | Christine Harris | Randall Pinkston | Patricia Motzkin | Randall Pinkston | Nina Ritter | Barbara Rodgers | Edie Silber | Bernestine Singley | Mizell Stewart III | Robin Williams Wood | Bill Schmidt | Steve Buttry

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Dori Maynard posted a new update:
about 9 years ago

Update #3

Dori Maynard, institute president, passed away today. She was 56, a tireless advocate of diversity in the media. We are heartbroken.

Join the Conversation

Sign in with your Facebook account or

Dori Maynard posted a new update:
about 10 years ago

The Front Door Project - Bridging the Disconnect Between Coverage and Reality

Looking at the all-white panel being promoted for Face the Nation this Sunday, the first thing I wondered was what news that panel will miss. It happens all the time. Homogenous newsrooms are routinely mis-informing the very public they purport to serve.
Just look at the coverage of the 2012 election. Even as the polls were closing, the almost all-white talking heads predicted a long night; a razor-thin election. The results were in by 11 pm EST, and if you knew the geography, it was obvious hours earlier.
The disconnect between what was reported and reality? Overwhelming white newsrooms did not have the connections to communities of color and while they took the African American vote for granted, those in the newsroom were largely unaware of the overwhelming support President Obama had in the Asian American, Latino and Native American communities.
This imbalanced and inaccurate coverage is not only failing to live up to the news media's ethical standards, it is also hurting our democracy.
At the Maynard Institute, we have a three-pronged approach to making systemic change in the media - through training, content creation and a watchdog component. For a more detailed description of our work please visit mije.org. Our programs are strong, our results are impressive and our passion is unwavering, but we need your help.
$100,000 will help ensure that we are able to continue those programs while also reframing the conversation around media and diversity.
We recognize it's an ambitious goal, but that is what it takes to fix deep-seated programs.
That's why we're asking you to give what you can. It doesn't have to be much. On #Fundly You can donate as much or as little as you want. The cost of a cup of coffee will help.
At the Maynard Institute we often say that this country cannot be the country we want it to be if its story is told by only one group of citizens. Our goal is to give all Americans front door access to the truth.
We hope you will join us and help turn our goal into a reality.
Check it out: http://fundly.com/together-we-can-change-the-narrative

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