Since its founding, the Omidyar Network has taken an unconventional approach to philanthropy.
EBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife, Pamela, have mapped out a unique path for the organization, and one that other mega donors have followed to some extent. Its hybrid structure was unusual when it was initially rolled out — encompassing a 501(c)(3) and an LLC — but since then, other philanthropies have adopted similar models. ON’s mission, too, resists easy classification; its issue areas include education, global development, racial equity and justice, the arts, and workers’ rights, among other causes. In recent years, Omidyar Network (ON) has worked to strengthen democracy by supporting “civic tech,” and critiqued and sought fixes for both the tech sector and capitalism itself.
With its recently launched Reporters in Residence program, ON is once again building outside the box. Journalism isn’t a unique funding area for philanthropy, of course. As IP pointed out in our State of American Philanthropy brief “Giving for Journalism and Public Media,” “Support for nonprofit journalism outlets has steadily increased in the past 15 years, as funders sought to address gaps in local and investigative reporting arising from for-profit outlets’ aggressive cost-cutting and consolidation measures.” IP has also reported on funders’ support for journalists of color, science journalism and fellowships on healthcare and more. ON and Pierre Omidyar himself have had a long-term interest in journalism. His organization, First Look Media, is the parent company of the investigative news outlet The Intercept.
What stands out about Omidyar’s Reporters in Residence program is the journalists it has selected to participate. All three freelance reporters have impressive bodies of work, but are not household names, and all explore topics often overlooked by the mainstream media: labor, poverty, racism, inequality and their overall impact on the economy.
These topics align with these ON program areas: Reimagining Capitalism: New Economic Paradigms; Worker Power; and Corporations, Capital Markets & the Common Good. They also reflect Omidyar’s growing reputation as one of the few billionaires eager to reshape the economic system that gave him such tremendous wealth in the first place. Omidyar Network has been one of only a handful of ultra-wealthy philanthropies backing worker power, for example, calling itself “a social change venture working to build more inclusive and equitable societies.”
The Omidyar Network believes independent journalism is essential to that goal, as Alexis Krieg, Omidyar’s senior manager for strategic communications, observed when the new program was announced. “At Omidyar Network, we are devoted to addressing the structural challenges at the heart of our economic system, and to shaping a new, inclusive economy where markets serve the interests of all people and society,” she said. “And we believe it is impossible to do that work without a steady stream of strong reporting from a variety of viewpoints.”
This machine kills
In a New York Times op-ed titled “There’s a Reason We Can’t Have Nice Things,” one of ON’s new Reporters in Residence, Bryce Covert, points to widespread racism to explain why the U.S. doesn’t have paid parental leave, support for child care, and other social programs that are common in most developed countries. In another piece, she decried Congress’ decision to scrap the child tax credit and universal access to school meals, which temporarily lifted many American families out of poverty and kept countless children from going hungry.
ON selected Covert for the fellowship program because of articles like these, which describe the real-world impacts of our current economic system and highlight possible alternatives.
“We are devoted to addressing the structural challenges at the heart of our economic system and shaping a different type of economy,” said Krieg. “It’s impossible to create that shift if you don’t have people out there detailing the different ways that this could go. For example, when Bryce writes a piece that says, actually, we don’t have to pay healthcare workers nothing, or force families to scramble for child care, and points to a solution that’s happening in another country or a state that’s trying something different. Putting those ideas out there and mainstreaming them is really important. Otherwise, it’s easy to get stuck in the belief that this is how it’s always been and that’s how it’s going to be forever.”
All three of ON’s Reporters in Residence cover labor issues, and it is freelance writer Kim Kelly’s primary beat. Kelly is a labor columnist for Teen Vogue; she has written about unions and the history of labor organizing in the U.S. for a variety of publications and in her book, “Fight Like Hell: The Untold Story of the Labor Movement.” Kelly has focused on women in the labor movement, and workers’ efforts to organize in industries from whiskey production to sex work.
While the labor movement is surging, it’s a topic that’s often neglected by the mainstream media. “I could probably count on one hand the full-time lead reporters covering labor right now, and that is a real disservice,” Krieg said. “But Kim Kelly has been covering the miners’ strike in Alabama, for example, and she has done really deep, thorough reporting. She has gotten to know those people on the ground and built up relationships with them. Other media outlets aren’t devoting those kinds of resources or providing that kind of nuance.”
Krieg noted Kelly’s role at Teen Vogue. “We’re seeing interest in the labor movement among young people — Gen Z — and Kim is directly addressing that audience and giving them the background and the historical context.”
Edward Ongweso Jr., the third journalist in the program’s inaugural class, is a former staff writer for Vice’s Motherboard, where he covered labor, technology and cryptocurrency. He cohosts the podcast This Machine Kills, which looks critically at technology and political economy.
“Edward has written tons about capitalism and he comes at it from the angle of technology; how we are recreating some of the old problems in new ways,” Krieg said. “Given our background at the intersection of economics and technology, we find his work really compelling.”
ON’s Reporters in Residence program is six months long, and participants receive $50,000. Alexis Krieg emphasized that ON exerts no editorial control over the journalists’ work.
Journalism in peril
ON’s Reporters in Residence program provides a boost to journalists doing critical work in a struggling sector — but it’s a small boost, given the need. Despite the recent increase in funding for nonprofit journalism that IP charted in its brief, journalism is in crisis. As ON pointed out when the Reporters in Residence program was announced, “Over the past 15 years, more than 2,000 communities have lost their local newspapers, and journalists and media organizations are being asked to do more and more with fewer and fewer resources. Award-winning local papers are being gobbled up by private equity firms as consolidation continues across the industry.”
Journalism could clearly use more support, particularly the type of enterprising, in-depth work that journalists like Covert, Kelly and Ongweso are committed to. Local media also needs more resources (in a recent IP guest post, Nic Dawes and Mazin Sidahmed make the case that it’s a philanthropic investment that carries a major bang for the buck).
Despite the need, some wealthy funders who supported news outlets — through philanthropy or otherwise — have recently backed away, providing cautionary tales of the industry relying on mega donors. As IP’s Mike Scutari reported, Laurene Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective cut ties with California Sunday Magazine, which folded; there have also been layoffs at The Atlantic, which the Emerson Collective controls. Pacific Standard abruptly shut down in 2019 when its sole funder unexpectedly walked away. And it’s been rumored that Jeff Bezos intends to sell the Washington Post; so far he’s denied the rumors, but observers interpret the speculation as one more sign that tech billionaires are cooling on media investments.
To date, Pierre Omidyar has been a champion of journalism, and ON’s Reporters in Residence program demonstrates that commitment. At the same time, even Omidyar’s First Look Media laid off staff last spring, and The Intercept recently announced that it is spinning off as an independent nonprofit. “To ensure a smooth transition, First Look has committed to a significant multiyear gift to support our newsroom,” according to the announcement.
Asked what, if anything, these developments indicate about Omidyar’s ongoing support for journalism, a First Look Media spokesperson pointed us to The Intercept announcement and offered this comment: “Pierre has provided funding for First Look and its entities for almost a decade and continues to do so.” Hopefully, when it comes to independent journalism, Omidyar and ON will continue to put their money where their mouths are.