This article was written by Sam Gill, SVP and chief program officer of Knight Foundation, and originally published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review on Monday, November 23, 2020. Political scientist Brendan Nyhan has attracted a Twitter following for repeatedly asking this question of Trump-related developments in his feed: “What would you say if you saw […]
Article · December 7, 2020 by Sam Gill
What is the most important challenge or opportunity facing American democracy over the next ten years? What role can philanthropy play in addressing that challenge—or in seizing the opportunity? This volume explores answers to these two urgent questions. We are not disinterested observers. The Kettering Foundation and the Knight Foundation are independent organizations that invest private […]
Article · November 5, 2020 by Sam Gill and Alberto Ibargüen
Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz famously called war “the continuation of politics by other means.” President Donald Trump’s escalation of his feud with Twitter in May, via an executive order demanding changes to a landmark law governing social media platforms, might be characterized as “policy as the continuation of Twitter by other means.” But even […]
Article · June 16, 2020 by Sam Gill
Originally published on Mercatus Center’s The Bridge as part of a series titled “Liberalism After Coronavirus”. Public trust in institutions of all kinds—government, universities, news organizations—has been declining for decades. Many of the reasons are well documented and include concerns about political bias, (exacerbated by deepening polarization across the country), perceptions of declining efficacy, and […]
Article · May 29, 2020 by Sam Gill
With the spread of COVID-19, we are in an unprecedented time in history. Knight is responding in these uncertain times by continuing to support informed and engaged communities. This means we remain committed to supporting grantees and assisting with the emergency relief underway in the 26 American communities where we operate. We have pledged the […]
Article · March 27, 2020 by Alberto Ibargüen and Sam Gill
On February 12, 2020, Knight Foundation released findings from a study that analyzed the diversity among asset managers for the nation’s top charitable foundations. Knight’s Sam Gill and Juan Martinez share insights below. View the full report here, and see the press release here. In early 2010, we were publicly asked how much of Knight […]
Article · February 12, 2020 by Sam Gill and Juan J. Martinez
The impact of digital technologies on American democracy continues to vex policymakers, corporate players and the public at the most fundamental level. In the past month, Mark Zuckerberg was grilled by Congress about Facebook’s decision to allow factually false claims in political advertising. California passed a law requiring the internet companies underpinning the “gig economy” […]
Article · November 21, 2019 by Sam Gill
On August 1, 2019, Knight made a $6 million investment in three think tanks to support their research on the future of U.S. technology policy. Sam Gill, vice president of communities and impact at Knight, shares details below. For more than a decade, Knight Foundation’s mission to support journalism and informed communities has led us to invest […]
Article · August 1, 2019 by Sam Gill
On July 22, 2019, Knight made a $50 million investment to develop a new field of research around technology’s impact on democracy. Sam Gill, vice president of communities and impact at Knight, shares details below. When Jack and Jim Knight left behind the corpus of what would grow into the modern Knight Foundation, they had built part […]
Article · July 22, 2019 by Sam Gill
Sign up for updates on Knight’s trust, media and democracy work below. The crisis of trust in our democracy is real. In developed democracies, including ours, levels of confidence in critical institutions are low and declining. At Knight Foundation, we’ve spent much of the past two years thinking critically about this challenge. Of particular concern […]
Article · January 22, 2019 by Sam Gill
Sam Gill is vice president of communities and impact at Knight Foundation. A strong democracy requires access to information. America’s founders believed that, and so did Knight Foundation benefactors Jack and Jim Knight, who led what was, at one time, the largest American newspaper company. The American founders and the Knights also understood that we […]
Article · December 13, 2018 by Sam Gill