Our work in media, arts and culture focuses on:
Supporting Diverse Arts Spaces
Arts and culture play a vital role in the creation of more just and vibrant societies. Our work aims to promote public discourse, cultural pluralism and artistic creativity through the development and sustainability of exemplary arts facilities and key networks, particularly in diverse communities. Throughout the world, independent arts organizations are emerging and creating unique and vitally needed spaces where citizens interact in an expanded public sphere. We support exemplars of a new 21st-century arts leadership who share knowledge, build capacity and serve as models of artistic innovation, cultural collaboration, inclusion and social partnership.
Orlando Bagwell, Director
Advancing Public Service Media
Media can help people make sense of the issues that are central to their lives and communities. Yet even as new technologies are making media ubiquitous, public interest values in media are threatened by access and control issues, diminishing the potential for millions to become more informed and engaged in the critical matters shaping the future of our world. To expand media's role in building stronger and freer societies, we are working to develop a vibrant public interest media service for the 21st century in the United States and in countries around the world. Our grants will help create a pipeline of high-quality content; strengthen the technology and distribution systems that allow people to access and contribute to this material; and boost public discussion and research about the ways in which media can better engage and inform all citizens.
Orlando Bagwell, Director
Advancing Media Rights and Access
How media systems and technologies are governed is critical to ensuring that all people have access to the accurate and diverse sources of information that are critical to effective citizenship in a rapidly changing world. We are working to ensure that all people, especially the poor and marginalized, have access to a diverse media system. Our strategies respect and promote the right of countries and communities to shape media policies that work most effectively for their own citizens. Our efforts promote smart public policies that protect the public interest, effective oversight and new technologies that advance openness, fairness and excellence across global media, including high-speed Internet and wireless connections for all, robust privacy protections, and digital transparency and organizing tools.
Orlando Bagwell, Director
Religion in the Public Sphere
Religion has always played a central role in American public life. In recent times, that role has increased notably as religious voices influence policy decisions, debates on values and morality, and the public policy agenda. The aim of this U.S. work is to increase the presence and effectiveness of diverse religious perspectives dedicated to social justice and to encourage a rigorous and informed public engagement of religion and its role in the public sphere.
Orlando Bagwell, Director