#media-sustainability

#media-sustainability

These organizations all face challenges, yet they are publishing regularly, building training programs, developing AI tools and creating new revenue streams. They're finding ways to serve audiences when high-quality information is increasingly hard to find. SUSTAIN grants give them the runway to execute plans for future growth without sacrificing their core work in the meantime.

Nina Jankowicz is a leading expert on disinformation and its role in international relations; Time magazine recently named her one of the 100 most influential people in artificial intelligence. Her books include "How to Lose the Information War" and "How to be a Woman Online." She is the co-founder and CEO of the American Sunlight Project, dedicated to ensuring citizens can find trustworthy information when it matters most.

Public media outlets entered 2025 on a wave of unease between declining on-air audience, waning underwriting revenue, post-election news fatigue, and the looming uncertainty about federal funding. The latter sadly became a reality on July 18 when Congress voted to claw back $1.1 billion in public media funding, leaving NPR, PBS, and more than 400 member stations across the country to figure out what to do next.

Publishing is at a crossroads. The business model that once supported thriving newsrooms, creative outlets, and niche media platforms has crumbled under the weight of collapsing ad deals, ineffective subscriptions, parasitic agencies, and a digital landscape increasingly dominated by artificial intelligence. Publishers who have endured decades of disruption now face a stark choice: adapt with clear strategies for monetization or risk being sidelined entirely.