The Newspaper Association of America Foundation strives to develop engaged and literate citizens in a diverse society. The Foundation invests in and supports programs designed to enhance student achievement through newspaper readership and appreciation of the First Amendment. The Foundation also endeavors to help media companies increase their readership and audience by offering programs that encourage the cultivation of a more diverse work force in the press.
Foundation Programs
The Foundation’s young-reader programs and products emphasize the use of newspapers and other media by young people. The Foundation's diversity programs and activities strive to help news media companies transform their cultures in order to grow their business and increase readership and audience.
Foundation support is concentrated in these primary focus areas:
- Newspaper in Education (NIE): The Foundation maintains a nationwide system of cooperation between newspapers and schools designed to enhance student achievement and appreciation of the First Amendment in a variety of subject areas through the use of newspapers in schools and helps newspapers develop strategic plans for providing NIE services to educators.
- Youth Content: The Foundation supports the Youth Editorial Alliance (YEA), a nationwide coalition of newspapers dedicated to advocating the value of content targeted toward youth. The Foundation provides resources and training in the development of youth content in newspapers; serves as a clearinghouse for youth readership initiatives; and helps newspapers plan and evaluate youth features and content.
- Student Newspapers: The Foundation encourages collaboration between newspapers and schools to support student-produced media. The Foundation works with scholastic media associations nationwide to provide training and resources, with an emphasis on enhancing appreciation of the First Amendment.
- Diversity: The Foundation collects and disseminates best-practice information on how a diverse work force can help to spur innovation and increase readership and audience, and offers activities and information to help news media companies in their efforts to recruit and retain a diverse work force. The Foundation offers fellowship programs and supports industry training programs with the goal of helping the industry achieve a significant increase in leadership diversity.
Strategic Goal #1: Initiate, design and deliver programs and products that encourage greater news readership, advance understanding of the value of professional journalism among all young people and foster leadership diversity.
Action Items:
- Produce curriculum guides for young-reader programs that provide utilization across news delivery formats – print and electronic.
- Communicate Foundation programs and products to a variety of audiences – news organizations, youth, educators and parents – with the objective of having these audiences increase usage of Foundation resources.
- Collaborate with other organizations on the delivery of Foundation programs.
- Create and offer leadership development activities aimed at assisting news media companies in achieving a significant increase in leadership diversity.
- Identify and share best practices in leadership development efforts at individual news media companies.
- Seek funding from other organizations to support the development of specific programs.
Strategic Goal #2: Conduct and share research and best practices. Subjects may include young people’s news and information preferences as well as the role of a diverse work force in driving innovation that leads to increases in readership and audience.
Action Items:
- Conduct research on youth readership and student engagement with news.
- Collect and share best practices for youth media-usage knowledge, including international research and programs.
- Collaborate with other organizations to develop strong, research-based models for young-reader products on multiple platforms.
- Collect and share best practices on reaching young readers across multiple platforms.
- Collect and share examples of how news media companies and other industries are using a diverse work force to drive innovation.
Strategic Goal #3: Provide programs and products that assist news media companies in attracting and retaining young and diverse audiences and talent.
Action Items:
- Create and support programs that offer training in digital media.
- Collect best-practice information on college recruitment programs. Use that information to create templates for effective industry internship and recruiting programs.
- Compile a list of targeted colleges and universities with which to establish recruiting relationships and assist news media companies in establishing relationships.