Burnis Reginald Morris is a journalism professor at the University of Mississippi. For several years, he has held a seminar, sponsored by the Knight Foundation, to help editors and reporters learn more about covering non-profits.
He also has written a book on the subject and is working on a second one.
I had the wonderful opportunity recently to talk to — and with — 34 journalists from around the country who attended the latest Morris gathering. It brought back memories of those times I had to struggle with decisions involving my roles as an editor and as a citizen of my community.
Perhaps because I grew up on a weekly newspaper owned by my father, who was extremely active in our county, I believe that you can’t hide behind your front page, or your evening news broadcast, and say you are not part of the real world.
As journalists, we report every day about the world in which we live. And in that world there are millions and millions in need of help. In that world, there are too many politicians who are willing to shred the safety nets and shatter the bones of hope for millions. In that world, more people each day are looking inward and isolating themselves.
But there are also opportunities for you to make a difference, without creating conflicts or violating any of your ethical guidelines.
I have long been a giver to United Way, picking and choosing where my contributions will go because I will not give to any organization that I know discriminates in any fashion whatsoever. Should I, or others editors who give, have backed off the story when the United Way was in deep trouble a few years ago? Not in the least.
We owed it to United Way, and all of the wonderful work that it does in community after community, to make sure that givers could trust it, that they could trust their money was being spent on those who need it. We owed it to our communities to make sure that those lifelines to thousands in need were still there.
Too many journalists are willing to believe that all charities are suspect, that there is hidden meaning behind all acts of good work. Many times a healthy dose of skepticism is what we need, but save me from blatant cynicism.
In my industry work, as a member and past president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, as past chair of the Foundation of American Communications, and in other roles, I have asked foundations for help. And received it.
The Freedom Forum and the Ford Foundation have been generous in their support of diversity programs. The Knight Foundation in its support of high school journalism education and training for journalists. The McCormick-Tribune Foundation in its support of credibility studies and educational efforts. The Casey Foundation to educate journalists about young people. The Packard Foundation to prepare journalists to better report on environmental issues. And many others.
But it is also your duty to make sure the non-profit world is covered with the same kind of scrutiny that we apply to the world of profit. Or the world of politics. It took me a long time to learn that this is a beat that needs to be treated just as we treat city hall or banking or college football. That we need someone reporting it on a constant basis, someone to build sources, someone who can read a spreadsheet, someone who can follow the money.
The non-profit sector in this country is huge. And it is diverse. Somewhere along the way it touches almost everyone. There are more than 1.5 million organizations under that umbrella, representing hundreds of billions in revenue each year. As many as one in every 12 Americans works for a non-profit.
And yet, this whole sector gets a free pass from the press most of the time.
I remember something a colleague wrote after Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig’s record for consecutive games played: “A baseball player named Cal Ripken did something majestically and historically ordinary Wednesday evening: he showed up for work. Look, it ain’t as easy as it sounds.”
Covering non-profits in the right way isn’t as easy as it sounds. But it’s certainly worth trying to get it exactly right.
