Knight’s new journalism VP: Sustainability depends on community demand (Q&A)

Knight Foundation is a Gold Sponsor of the 2026 Independent News Sustainability Summit. LION is featuring some sponsors in Q&As to help independent news publishers learn more about their work. Find out how to become a Summit sponsor.

We’re big fans of Knight Foundation, and not just because it’s one of the largest journalism funders in the U.S. Yes, Knight has committed millions of dollars to support local news through its own investments, leadership of Press Forward, and other initiatives. But it’s mostly because Knight’s dedication to strengthening business sustainability in the news industry closely aligns with our own mission.

So we’re thrilled to welcome Knight back as a sponsor of the Independent News Sustainability Summit for the fourth straight year. This time, we sat down with the foundation’s newest executive, Amalie Nash, vice president of the journalism program. (Read our past Q&As with Duc Luu, director of sustainability initiatives for the journalism program, and Marisa Kwiatkowski, director for the journalism program.) Let’s dive in.

Hayley Milloy, LION Publishers: You joined Knight last September, after nearly 30 years working in local newsrooms as well as supporting them. Now you lead the journalism portfolio at one of the industry’s most important philanthropic funders. What inspired you to take this role?

Amalie Nash, Knight Foundation: Joining Knight was both an honor and an opportunity. I saw it as a chance to take what I’ve learned over nearly 30 years in local news — working at a lot of different levels — and use that experience to help shape partnerships and investments that can move the field forward. Anyone who’s worked in local news knows one of the biggest challenges is the lack of resources to innovate and invest. Newsrooms are often so focused on sustaining the core that it’s hard to experiment. At Knight, we have the ability to help seed ideas and give news organizations the space to try new approaches that, ideally, can scale across the industry.

Hayley: Knight has focused on finding and funding sustainable models for local news. How has the foundation’s approach to supporting news infrastructure evolved over time, and what might look different in the years to come?

Amalie: You’re right that Knight has long focused on sustainability, and that remains core to our journalism strategy. But to address a crisis this profound, we need to reimagine local news and the models that can support it — not just inject philanthropic capital to keep existing models going in the short-term. The size of the problem is larger than the scope of philanthropic resources, so we see our role as supporting the ideas and innovation that can lead to long-term solutions.

We believe infrastructure is a critical layer in the ecosystem, which is why we’ve invested in tools, technology, and training that support the broader field. Over time, that work has evolved from experimentation to implementation, understanding what works and focusing on how to scale it.

Right now, our thinking around sustainability is increasingly centered on audience demand. For local news to endure — whether it’s an individual creator or a major metro newsroom — it has to be relevant and responsive to the communities it serves. That means delivering the right information, in the right formats, on the platforms people actually use. Ultimately, sustainability comes down to whether news organizations are meeting real community needs in ways that people value and will engage with.

Hayley: Both Duc and Marisa discussed the demand side of local news with us, and understanding what audiences want is key to attracting financial support from readers, local funders, and advertisers. How is Knight helping to enhance the field’s understanding of how people consume and share information?

Amalie: This is a big focus for us right now, and it shows up across our work — from research partnerships to how we engage with newsrooms and journalism support organizations across the field.

For local news to have real impact, it has to reach people and meet their needs. We know that when local news declines, civic engagement declines, too, so understanding how people consume and share information isn’t just important — it’s foundational.

We’re continuing to expand our work in this area, including bringing practitioners together for an audience-focused convening later this year. And we’re applying that same lens in how we work with grantees and partners, keeping a strong focus on audience demand as a driver of sustainability.

Hayley: What’s something you’ve seen in the past six months that excites you about the future of this industry?

Amalie: I’m excited about the tools and technology that I believe can have a real impact on the industry. It’s been encouraging to see how newsrooms are experimenting with AI — not just to drive efficiencies, but to engage audiences in new ways. Technology is making it much easier for news organizations to deliver content in formats that meet people where they are, whether that’s video, audio, text, or all of those for the same story.

We’re still early in understanding what this shift will mean, but it’s clear AI is going to reshape how people find, consume, and interact with information. The organizations that stand out will be the ones that use it intentionally to better serve their audiences, deepen engagement, and expand their reach in ways that weren’t possible before.

Hayley: Are there any upcoming initiatives Knight is working on that you’d like to preview for us?

Amalie: We’ve been working with other funders to explore different investment tools that could better support the field, including the expanded use of program-related investments (PRIs). Many organizations are reaching a level of maturity where different types of capital could help them grow and scale. We’re not ready to share specifics yet, but we’re excited about the opportunity to evolve how we invest to better meet the needs of the field.