Seed projects

Beginning in 2025, the Fund for Authentic Journalism launched a series of small grants for “seed projects,” innovative journalistic initiatives created by members of our broader community that focus on covering social movements and struggles that are often underrepresented or misunderstood. Each year, the Fund plans to seed at least two new projects, and to provide not only financial support, but also guidance, mentorship, and strategic accompaniment for their development, growth, and distribution. The goal is not just to help good ideas get off the ground, but to help them become sustainable and viable interventions in the public sphere.

Launched and hosted by journalist José Olivares, “Salon Podcast” is the first project to be created through this seed-grant program. This social-media-based series features conversations with journalists and community organizers working on the front lines of contemporary struggles. Through in-depth and candid interviews, Olivares explores ways in which journalists cover movements, the strategies and tactics movements are using, and the ways journalism can help or even hinder organizing on the ground. The project focuses on lessons learned in the field, in a rapidly changing and often hostile political environment.