The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed almost $125,000 of funding over five years to the Journalism Funders Forum (JFF), a group of media funders hosted and organised by the European Journalism Centre (EJC).

‘We are proud to continue the fruitful collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that has committed five years of core support for the Journalism Funders Forum. Together, with our other partners, we will continue to build an inclusive and connected community among funders of European media and journalism,’ said Biba Klomp, Project Manager at EJC.

JFF supports journalism in Europe by connecting philanthropy and media stakeholders, ensuring more effective and impactful funding of journalism, and increasing the amount of philanthropic funding of journalism. It organises events, workshops, and webinars, as well as releases research, reports, and newsletters. In January, JFF launched a Mentorship Programme for philanthropic organisations interested in funding media and journalism.

We have built an open community of foundations working together. Together, we are working to increase the amount and impact of funding for journalism in Europe. We are helping each other mobilise and co-ordinate during the COVID-19 crisis. /3

— European Journalism Centre (@ejcnet) May 11, 2020

Other funders of JFF include the Adessium Foundation, News Integrity Initiative, Nicolas Puech Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Schöpflin Stiftung, and Stichting Democratie en Media.

The support for independent, public interest journalism is essential to protect democracy within Europe and philanthropic foundations have an important role to play in supporting the healthy development of journalism in the public interest as a whole, Klomp said.