American Press Institute

API receives funding from many sources, including several left-leaning philanthropic organizations that support left-of-center journalism, oppose election integrity measures, and support more lenient immigration policies.

Background

The American Press Institute (API) was founded in 1946 at Columbia University’s Journalism School. It moved to Reston, Virginia in 1974. In 2012, due to declining revenues in the newspaper industry, API merged with the Newspaper Association of America (NAA). ² The NAA is now known as the News Media Alliance. ³ News Media Alliance is an advocacy organization working on behalf of the news media. ⁴

Programs

Metrics for News is a proprietary software that provides journalism analytics to news organizations. ⁵

Table Stakes is a program for news organizations to coach them on how to survive and grow in the digital news environment. The program is funded by the Knight Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund, which includes the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, a left-leaning private foundation that focuses on media-related projects, and the Lenfest Institute.6

The Fact Checking project focuses on designing and implementing political fact-checking processes for news organizations. ⁷ It was funded by a grant from Pierre Omidyar’s Democracy Fund. ⁸

In 2017, API released a series of reports detailing its claims of “Guiding principles for funders of nonprofit media” as well as “Guiding principles for nonprofit newsrooms.” In the former, API listed several principals that it claimed would help funders and grantees, “arrive a clear understanding of their respective roles.” ⁹ These include Transparency with the Public, Communications with Grantees, Integrity, Independence, Sustainability and Organizational Health, Education, and Guidelines. ⁹ With the latter report, API created several other guidelines it claimed would help newsrooms and their donors: these included Editorial Independence, Transparency, and Communications with Funder. ¹⁰

Financials

According to its 2022 990 form, API reported $3,990,429 in revenue, $5,795,926 in expenses, and $44,203,942 in total assets. ¹¹

In 2019, API received $1,289,783 in grants and contributions, per its 2019 tax return, and paid out $1,651,330 in salaries, compensation, and employee benefits. The highest compensated employee was Tom Rosentiel, executive director, who was paid $408,890 in 2019. ¹² Rosentiel was executive director of API for nine years and left the organization on August 20, 2021. ¹³

Sources of Funding

Major sources of funding to the American Press Institute include the Craig Newmark Foundation, the Democracy Fund, the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Rita Allen Foundation,  and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. ¹⁴

The Craig Newmark Foundation was founded by Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist. ¹⁵ The foundation supports broad civic engagement, funding projects that support left-of-center journalism, oppose election integrity legislation, and focus on increasing the number of women in the tech industry. ¹⁶

The Democracy Fund funds organizations that oppose election integrity legislation and focus on increasing civic engagement among Democratic-leaning voting blocs. ¹⁷

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is a left-leaning private foundation that funds media related projects. ¹⁸

The Robert R. McCormick Foundation originally started by funding journalism and freedom of speech issues, and has broadened its focus to funding left-of-center and liberal organizations that support issues such as more lenient immigration legislation, rent ceilings, minimum wage increases, and tax incentives for Hispanic immigrants. ¹⁹

Leadership

Board Chair

Barbara Wall is the Board Chair of Trustees for API as of 2024, serving in the position since October 2023. She also serves on the board of media company Gannett Co., previously working for the company in several positions for 30 years until retiring in 2020. Her last position with Gannett before retiring was as Chief Legal and Operating Officer. In addition, she serves on the board of News/Media Alliance and was previously the chair of the American Bar Association’s Forum on Communications Law. ²⁰

Kevin Mowbray was the previous chairman of the American Press Institute, serving as president and CEO of media company Lee Enterprises since 2016. Lee Enterprises is a provider of local news, with nearly 350 weekly and specialty publications serving 77 markets in 26 states. Mowbray also serves as a member of the board for News Media Alliance. ^{21 22}

Executive Director and CEO

Michael Bolden is the Executive Director and CEO of API, serving in the position since February 2022. Prior to this, Bolden was the director of culture and operations at The San Francisco Chronicle magazine. In addition, Bolden worked as a journalism lecturer at Stanford University, was the managing director of the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships, and served as the editorial director for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. He also worked as an editor for The Washington Post and served in reporting and editing positions with several local newspapers including the Miami Herald, the Northwest Florida Daily News, and The Times-Picayune in New Orleans. ²³

David Chavern was the previous president and CEO of API and previously served as CEO of News Media Alliance. Beforehand, he worked in several executive positions within the United States Chamber of Commerce lobbying group. ^{24 25}