In September 2017, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced the Trust, Media and Democracy initiative to support the role of strong, trusted journalism as essential to a healthy democracy. The initiative is anchored by the Knight Commission on Trust, Media and Democracy, a panel of thinkers and doers from diverse backgrounds committed to creating more informed and engaged communities. This nonpartisan commission explores causes for the erosion of trust in democratic institutions, in particular the press. It is also working to identify new thinking and solutions around rebuilding trust.

To inform this conversation, Knight Foundation commissioned a series of white papers on media and democracy. You can find these pieces, which address the role of social media in spreading misinformation, news in the “post-truth” political era and more, here. Summaries of the white papers can be found on Medium at medium.com/trust-media-and-democracy.