Media

The Brett Family Foundation is committed to the support of the important work our grantees do to make our state a more just and caring place to live.

We support 501(c)(3) organizations that work in the state of Colorado to sustain a healthy news ecosystem supporting a strong civil society.

Our media investments are made primarily to organizations that work in the following fields:

  • Public Interest Journalism - generating news, civic and investigative information for the digital age in accordance with the highest standards of traditional journalism;

  • News Literacy - helping individuals and groups access, evaluate and interact with new media;

  • Engaged Communities - helping communities engage civically, find their progressive voice, and participate in dialogue and take informed action.

We give priority to organizations that subscribe to the idea that the central purpose of journalism is to provide citizens with the accurate and reliable information they need to function in a free society, and which commit to the Elements of Journalism proposed by the Committee of Concerned Journalists:

  • Journalism's first obligation is to the truth.

  • Its loyalty is to its citizens.

  • Its essence is a discipline of verification.

  • Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover.

  • It must serve as an independent monitor of power.

  • It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise.

  • It must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant.

  • It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional.

  • Its practitioners have an obligation to exercise their personal conscience.

  • Citizens, too, have rights and responsibilities when it comes to the news.

Media Grantmaking Practices

We make single-year general operating and program support grants.

Media Grantmaking Criteria

Successful Brett Family Foundation Media grantees will demonstrate commitment to meet the following criteria:

  • Articulate clearly defined goals regarding development of information in fields that allow people to engage as fully as possible in the state or local body politic.

  • Have a commitment to high standards of journalistic integrity.

  • Have a well-formed strategy leading to effective dissemination of information to the general public or specific communities.

  • Possess the internal capacity to achieve goals and implement strategies.

  • Understand the interests and needs of communities which the organization seeks to inform or engage.

Grant Applications

Application for Media Grants is by invitation only. For more information, please email info@brettfoundation.org.