A foundation created by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam recently announced it’s giving US$100 million to investigative news outlets and other initiatives, a rare boon for media institutions under duress. Even a fraction of this gift could help bolster impoverished U.S.-based journalism. Yet, while foundation-backed nonprofit outlets have clear advantages over their commercial counterparts, they may never compensate for the market failure that’s afflicting journalism. As I argue in my book “America’s Battle for Media Democracy,” commercial journalism’s deeply systemic problems call for structural alternatives, especially public models that don’t depend on market forces. While journalism needs all the cash it can get these days, its long-term survival requires steady support.

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