Although advertising revenue largely sustained the news media in the 20th century, it’s been harder to come by in the digital age. News media outlets just aren’t as important these days for advertisers when they can reach potential customers so many other ways, including through social media.

Some news outlets are relying more on subscription revenue. But that can also be a tough sell when readers have so many alternatives – often free – for finding news, if they’re even looking for it at all.

Increasingly, local news media outlets are adopting nonprofit models to be able to obtain grants from foundations and donations from individuals as new revenue sources.

At the same time, some nonprofit news leaders have avoided selling ads because the IRS has said their organizations would have to pay taxes on that revenue. They have also heard that selling too many ads might jeopardize their tax-exempt status altogether.

My research suggests that they need not worry about that – although, given recent threats by the Trump administration against Harvard University and other nonprofits, they may have reasons to be wary.

I’m a former public radio journalist who now researches the nonprofit news sector.

I interviewed 23 nonprofit news leaders in 2023 about their fundraising practices. I also reviewed hundreds of 990 forms that most nonprofits are required to file annually with the IRS.

In early 2025, I published a study that found most nonprofit news leaders still depended heavily on........

© The Conversation