[Washington, D.C.'s 20001 is Newseum's home, seen here at night]
For decades, Gannett's charitable foundation supported communities where the company did business, giving to needy causes across the nation in many of the 43,000 postal Zip Codes. That changed dramatically after 1991, when Al Neuharth gained control of the $650 million in capital, a new Gannett Blog analysis of IRS tax returns found. I analyzed spending by Zip Code during two years:
2000
Neuharth had by this point controlled the fortune nine years, through his Freedom Forum journalism foundation. Administrators had just shifted its grant-making strategy to favor a single project -- the Newseum -- over untold other non-profits nationwide. The museum about news was then housed in a smaller facility in Arlington, Va.Freedom Forum made $43.9 million in grants and contributions that year -- and already, 51% now went to a single Zip Code: 22209, the Newseum's relatively modest home and neighborhood at the time.
2007
By this year, the shift favoring the Newseum was nearly complete. Freedom Forum made $59.9 million in grants in 2007, and fully $57.3 million -- 96% -- went to 20001. That is the new home Zip Code in Washington, D.C., for the $450 million Newseum unveiled last April.
An accounting: What was lost
Public documents show Neuharth and Freedom Forum's trustees have quietly shut off a multimillion-dollar pipeline to hundreds of struggling Gannett communities -- the very communities that made this fortune possible in the first place. Instead, the journalism endowment is being spent almost entirely on an increasingly expensive apartment building and entertainment complex at 555 Pennsylvania Ave., 20001.
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Good work, Jim. I knew the foundation has sent a lot of money over to the 'seum, but I had no idea is was that bad.
ReplyDeleteWhat a mess this company has become, on all fronts.
Increasingly, my response to much of what I read about Gannett is "That's just so WRONG!"
ReplyDeleteFrom what I read on this blog, others share that view.
Why don't the Gannett power brokers understand what they are doing is only going to compound the damage they have already done?
Journalism used to be a vocation. It was ruined when our bosses forced us to see it as only a job.
This is an outrage, and I rarely use those words. Agree with 7:46. What an obscene, hypocritical, self-serving mess.
ReplyDeleteHere I find myself begging, hat in hand, for one more person on a crew to do the job I am expected to do. And then I read this crap!!! Gannett can stick it where the sun don't shine. Pardon my choice of words.
ReplyDeleteFOLKS - by now you should realize that the gannett "purchased" the gannett foundation back from neuharth so they could retain the gannett foundation. that gave al the money to start the freedom forum. Two SEPARATE entities. The Freedom forum has no reason to provide for Gannett communities.
ReplyDeleteDo your homework.
Just a question Jim, and it's probably a dumb one, but it's unclear in my little brain.
ReplyDeleteWhere does the money come from that funds the Gannett Foundation? Profits of the company? Grants from other foundations? Sales of properties and other holdings?
1:27 pm: The Gannett Foundation now gets all its money from Gannett itself; it does not accept contributions from the general public.
ReplyDeleteThe foundation does not have a fixed endowment. Instead, as its needs arise, Gannett has donated assets, typically in the form of a newspaper. The foundation then sells the paper, and the proceeds are used to make grants.
But there is virtually no market for newspapers anymore, which makes me think Gannett may not be able to fund the foundation for a while -- and possibly forever.
Great job bringing this to light, Jim. It's shameful that the charitable foundation of Gannett -- the self-proclaimed defender of the 1st Amendment, freedom of information, and the public interest -- has been looted in the wasteful, egotistical tradition of Al Neuharth. This is yet one more piece of evidence that a complete shakeup of Gannett at the top is long overdue.
ReplyDeleteJim, you often mention how Neuharth strong-armed Gannett into funding the Freedom Forum.
ReplyDeleteThat's intriguing, and I'd like to hear the whole story. Can you recount it?
Good grief, why is it so hard to understand that the Freedom Forum and the Gannett Foundation are two separate entities. Freedom Forum is not connected financially to Gannett in any way. Former Gannett employees work for the Freedom Forum, but that's the only connection. The Gannett Foundation is the charitable arm of the Gannett company.
ReplyDeleteGreat job on this.
ReplyDeleteI have long felt the Newseum needed to be examined more closely, because it has been my contention this building is more of a conference center for politicians to hit up businessmen for campaign contributions than a museum.
You should take a closer look at the non-museum activities included in the Newseum, including the 500-seat theater the public doesn't see, and the two-story conference center on the 7th and 8th floors. The issue is: who is renting these spaces regularly? I believe the idea behind the newseum was to create a convenient place where politicians could meet privately with business leaders behind closed doors but within walking distance of the Capitol. You noted Huffington has rented the place for an inaugural ball this month, but there are many other activities that go on there.
I got interested in this after finding out that a charity I used to donate to, So Others Might Eat, held an exclusive dinner at the Newseum. Needless to say, I no longer contribute to that charity.
Susan Bennett used to be a reporter for a Philadelphia paper, so she must have really been paid a hell of a lot to keep her quiet about this one. Keep up the pressure. We need to know more about this sleaze.
ReplyDeleteNeuharth's legacy will not be so much as founder of USA Today but how he raped and pillaged the Freedom Foundation.
ReplyDeleteI am absolutely disgusted.
Do any of the current and former officers have any ethics?
These people have no shame and they treat Gannett and the foundations as their personal fiefdom.
I use to be proud to be a Gannett employee. Those days now seem like an ancient memory.
John Reinan: I hope to tell a fuller, more detailed story in the future. But the short answer is this: Neuharth told his successor, John Curley, that he wanted Gannett to buy out all the GCI shares then held in the Gannett Foundation. I think they equaled as much as 10% or 11% of Gannett outstanding shares. It was clear that if Gannett didn't meet Neuharth's demand, the company could be put into play because Neuharth was offering a stake that I believe controlled one or more board seats.
ReplyDelete5:43 pm: I fear you are being deliberately obtuse. You wrote: "Freedom Forum is not connected financially to Gannett in any way. " That is not true.
ReplyDeleteFreedom Forum's original $650 million endowment was provided 100% by Gannett's shareholders -- under considerable duress. How in the world is that not a financial connection between Gannett and Freedom Forum?
Jim... in addition to not being able to fun the GF with sales of newspapers, it will be interesting to review the amount that the base of assets lost during the year. My guess is that the total will be down by 40% while the GMC continues to loot the GF for their own pet projects. Disgrace.
ReplyDeleteAnd does anyone recognize the irony that the Newseum is now rentable space for lobbyists to hold parties and fundraisers away from the press in order to curry favor on our corrupt elected officials?
Makes sense to me.
6:37 AM
ReplyDeleteLooks like the charity that lost your donation is on the long list of FF recipients! Wonder how many other charities that get FF money book events at the Newseum?
Just an observation:
Those little scholarships dollar amounts look so small compared to the bigger awards made by the foundation, don't they?