American Media Institute
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| American Media Institute | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Alexandria, Virginia |
| Type: | News Media |
| Top official: | Richard Miniter, CEO |
| Year founded: | 2012 |
| Website: | Official website |
American Media Institute (AMI) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) news agency based in Alexandria, Vir. It was founded in 2012 by several journalists from The Wall Street Journal and Reader's Digest.
AMI seeks to provide readers with in-depth investigative reporting from an independent perspective. The organization produces original news and employs experienced former journalists from outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time Magazine and The Los Angeles Times. AMI states that the nonprofit model is essential in funding the costly process of producing an investigative news story that larger media outlets can no longer afford.[1]
Mission
According to their website, American Media Institute's mission is as follows:[2]
| “ |
The American Media Institute is a non-profit 501(c)(3) investigative news service dedicated to public accountability by presenting original reporting in major news outlets. We offer exclusive content and promote it creatively to drive readers, reputation and revenue to major news outlets. In a world of spin and opinion, we provide an alternative; old-fashioned reporting that challenges the conventional wisdom with fact-checked, thoroughly documented reporting.[3] |
” |
Background
Founded in 2012, the American Media Institute's (AMI) primary focus is investigative journalism. Believing in "accountability journalism", AMI, according to their website, has two values, being first and being fearless. First is a reference to seeking out original content and not "recycling or recirculating the reporting of others."[4][2]Fearless is described as seeking out news stories regardless of public scrutiny or the reactions of others and considering only AMI's social "obligations" to inform the public.[4] AMI operates with transparency, making available their IRS 990 forms and their internal policies, guidelines, and governance documents.[4]
AMI offers three products to the reader, according to their website. The first is their Investigative Journalism Unit, which produces original news exclusively for news outlets. The unit covers national security, education, labor, economics and energy. All articles are fact-checked, documented, and legally vetted.[5]
AMI offers an Urban News Service, which provides news to urban newspapers and broadcasters. According to AMI, it is "news that celebrates, educates and empowers by focusing on school reformers, black entrepreneurs and local heroes while holding governments and special interests accountable."[5] AMI states that they are one of the largest suppliers to African American news outlets nationwide.[5] Their Urban News division focuses on five areas of news:[6]
- The Hero No One Knows: The content focuses on African American heroes, policemen, civic leaders and others who contribute to their communities.
- Entrepreneurs Among Us: This category shares stories from African Americans who own their businesses and the hurdles they face and the experiences they have to share.
- Abuse of Trust: The content focuses on accountability, especially in politics.
- Your Money at Work: This section focuses on "outrageous or humorous examples of government waste and institutional malfeasance."
- School Reformers Vs. The Establishment: This content chronicles the struggle to improve access to quality education for African Americans.
AMI's third service is the AMI News Wire, which is a daily feed of original news summaries for media outlets. AMI targets local news outlets by providing them with briefs on national news. AMI launched this service August 5, 2015.[5]
| Member news outlets[7] |
|---|
Leadership
Below is the list of the board of directors:[8]
- Jeff Ballabon
- Heather Higgins
- Keya Dash
- James Lucier
- Richard Miniter
- Richard Perle
Finances
The following is a breakdown of the American Media Institute's (AMI) contributions and gifts received, total annual revenue and the organizations expenses for the 2012-2013 fiscal years, as reported to the IRS.
| Annual contributions received, revenues and expenses for AMI, 2012-2013 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tax Year | Contributions and grants received | Total annual revenue | Expenses |
| 2013[9] | $717,317 | $717,317 | $696,239 |
| 2013[10] | $307,504 | $307,505 | $307,235 |
| 2012[11] | $97,700 | $97,700 | $93,150 |
Recent news
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See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ AMI, "FAQs," accessed August 19, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 AMI, "About Us," accessed August 19, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 AMI, "Our Values," accessed August 18, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 AMI, "Product Overview," accessed August 18, 2015
- ↑ Urban News Service, "Story Types," accessed August 18, 2015
- ↑ AMI, "Member News Outlets," accessed August 18, 2015
- ↑ AMI, "Board of Directors," accessed August 19, 2015
- ↑ Guidestar, "AMI, IRS Form 990 (2014)," accessed January 19, 2016
- ↑ Guidestar, "AMI, IRS Form 990 (2013)," accessed August 18, 2015
- ↑ ‘’Guidestar’’, "AMI, IRS Form 990 EZ (2012)," accessed August 18, 2015
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