News

For the Second Year in a Row, Craig Newmark Gifts The Forward $500,000

Craig Newmark

By Jodi Rudoren August 4, 2020

If you ever bought or sold something on craigslist — and who hasn’t? — you’ve already helped build The Forward’s future.

Because craigslist’s success turned into Craig Newmark Philanthropies, which has for the second year in a row given us $500,000 — the two largest grants in the Forward’s 123-year history, and an absolutely critical investment in our digital transformation.

It is so gratifying to have Craig’s continuing generosity and guidance. He and his foundation are backing crucial journalism institutions across our industry, including CUNY’s graduate school of journalism; ProPublica, the leading nonprofit investigative newsroom; The 19th, a new venture focused on women and politics; and Report for America, which puts hundreds of young reporters into local newsrooms that could not otherwise afford them. I am so proud to be part of this group of entrepreneurial thinkers devoted to high-quality, original reporting as a public service and pillar of democracy.

Craig’s support is helping The Forward reinvent our website; expand our reach on social media; produce ambitious investigative and narrative journalism; engage more deeply with you, our readers; and maintain a platform for civil discourse on the issues that divide our communities.

Who knew that when I moved back to New York from Chicago 14 years ago, selling a sofa and side tables and so many other things on craigslist, they’d be helping provide the foundation for the future of Jewish journalism.

Jodi Rudoren has been editor-in-chief of the Forward since 2019. She previously spent 21 years at The New York Times, including a stint as Jerusalem bureau chief. Twitter: @rudoren. Email: [email protected].

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