Press Forward says its funders have put nearly $600 million into local news, two years ahead of its goal
The coalition, formed in 2023 with a goal of $500 million over five years, counts $594 million from 144 funders in its 2026 impact report. Its 50 local chapters granted $53.2 million in the year to June.
Where Press Forward funders' money went since 2023, at least
Press Forward, a coalition of funders formed in 2023 to strengthen local news, said on Nov. 10 that its network has invested nearly $600 million in local news, about two years before the end of the five-year, $500 million goal it set at its launch.
The coalition's 2026 impact report puts the total at $594 million since the launch, from 144 funders, in 2,663 grants. Press Forward started with money from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Democracy Fund and 19 other funders, The Associated Press reported. The Knight Foundation is the largest investor, at $224 million in direct or aligned funding, the report says.
Where the money went
More than $258 million went directly to newsrooms, including $20 million from Press Forward's pooled fund for 205 small outlets filling coverage gaps. More than $306 million went to journalism support organizations, which offer business expertise, legal help, technology and shared tools; nearly half of that went to intermediaries that regrant part of their money to newsrooms. The report calls its figures a minimum, because not all funders answered the survey behind them.
The coalition's 50 local chapters, including new statewide chapters in Louisiana and New York, have granted at least $87.2 million in their own communities since 2023. Of that, $53.2 million came in the 12 months to June 2026, an increase of 46%, and nearly three quarters of chapter money went directly to local news outlets.
With MacArthur and Knight, Press Forward also created a $21 million revolving loan fund led by Social Finance, a Boston nonprofit, that offers local outlets flexible, low-interest capital.
What comes next
Dale Anglin, Press Forward's director, wrote in the report that the problems of local news have not been solved and that the coalition is not a silver bullet. Over the next two years it plans to invest in the strength and capacity of its chapters, the report says. Ms. Anglin told the AP that the group will keep raising and investing money and will widen its work to include public policy changes, cooperation among outlets, and grants for infrastructure and capacity building.
The AP, citing a Northwestern University report, said the number of news deserts, counties with no locally based professional source of news, grew by 12% this year to 238.
“You can't nonprofit your way out of this problem. We understand that some things will still close. But we are building for the long term.”
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