--- title: Craigslist Founder Donates $1 Million to ProPublica description: Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist, announced on Wednesday a $1-million grant to the investigative news organization ProPublica canonical: https://time.com/4687494/craigslist-craig-newmark-propublica/ author: Aric Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-01T20:28:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:36:24.637Z article:section: Business og:title: Craigslist Founder Gives $1 Million to Journalism Nonprofit ProPublica og:description: "A trustworthy press is the immune system of democracy" og:url: https://time.com/4687494/craigslist-craig-newmark-propublica/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96e240319485a1df/6988bc93ab6d77484f6ad0cb/craig-newmark-craigslist-propublica.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Russell Simmons' Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation's Annual Rush HeARTS Education Luncheon og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Craigslist Founder Gives $1 Million to Journalism Nonprofit ProPublica twitter:description: "A trustworthy press is the immune system of democracy" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96e240319485a1df/6988bc93ab6d77484f6ad0cb/craig-newmark-craigslist-propublica.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Craigslist Founder Announces $1-Million Grant For ProPublica by [Aric Jenkins](/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Mar 1, 2017 8:28 PM CUT  NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 11: Founder of craigslist and craigconnects Craig Newmark attends Russell Simmons' Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation's Annual Rush HeARTS Education Luncheon at The Plaza Hotel on March 11, 2016 NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 11: Founder of craigslist and craigconnects Craig Newmark attends Russell Simmons' Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation's Annual Rush HeARTS Education Luncheon at The Plaza Hotel on March 11, 2016Bryan Bedder — Getty Images for Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation by [Aric Jenkins](/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Mar 1, 2017 8:28 PM CUT Craig Newmark, the founder of [Craigslist](http://time.com/4516976/facebook-marketplace-craigslist/ "undefined"), announced a $1-million grant to the investigative news organization ProPublica on Wednesday. ProPublica, which [labels itself](https://www.propublica.org/about/ "undefined") as an independent, nonprofit media company, will be able to use the funds to “deploy resources and address opportunities, including adding staff, where they are most needed over a wide range of issues in the public interest,” [according to a press release](http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-craig-newmark-foundation-challenges-fake-news-and-promotes-trustworthy-journalism-with-1-million-grant-to-independent-investigative-news-powerhouse-propublica-300415918.html "undefined"). The grant is unrestricted, meaning ProPublica can use it for any purpose it wants. “A trustworthy press is the immune system of democracy,” Newmark said in a statement. “As citizens we can only make informed decisions when we have news we can trust. Independent investigative reporting is essential to shoot down false claims and expose bad actors. ProPublica is a leader in that kind of journalism, and we need more of it.” Newmark has a history of philanthropy, particularly with media companies. In 2016, the entrepreneur [donated $1 million to the Poynter Institute](http://www.poynter.org/2016/craig-newmark-foundation-gives-poynter-1-million-to-fund-chair-in-journalism-ethics/442301/ "undefined"), a nonprofit journalism school. He additionally [gifted $1 million to Wikipedia](https://blog.wikimedia.org/2016/06/08/craig-newmark-wikipedia-future/ "undefined") in 2016 to support its editorial and fact-checking efforts, according to the press release. In the wake of [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/4686886/presidential-trump/ "undefined")‘s election, numerous media organizations have reported [increased subscriptions and funding](http://www.cjr.org/business%5Fof%5Fnews/trump%5Fjournalism%5Fsubscription%5Fsurge.php "undefined"). The New York _Times_, which Trump routinely calls “failing” on Twitter, said its subscriptions surged in the weeks after the 2016 election. ProPublica also saw a bump in donations following the election, ProPublica president Richard Tofel [told Poynter](https://www.poynter.org/2016/propublica-is-seeing-a-surge-in-donations-after-john-olivers-trump-segment/439254/ "undefined") in November, after comedian John Oliver urged his followers to support “actual journalism” during a segment on his HBO show, “Last Week Tonight.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4687494/craigslist-craig-newmark-propublica/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4687494/craigslist-craig-newmark-propublica/"},"headline":"Craigslist Founder Announces $1-Million Grant For ProPublica","datePublished":"2017-03-01T20:28:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:36:24.637Z","description":"Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist, announced on Wednesday a $1-million grant to the investigative news organization ProPublica","url":"https://time.com/4687494/craigslist-craig-newmark-propublica/","keywords":["Craigslist","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96e240319485a1df/6988bc93ab6d77484f6ad0cb/craig-newmark-craigslist-propublica.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Aric Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96e240319485a1df/6988bc93ab6d77484f6ad0cb/craig-newmark-craigslist-propublica.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Russell Simmons' Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation's Annual Rush HeARTS Education Luncheon","caption":"Russell Simmons' Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation's Annual Rush HeARTS Education Luncheon","creditText":"Bryan Bedder — Getty Images for Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/craigslist/","name":"Craigslist"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4687494/craigslist-craig-newmark-propublica/","name":"Craigslist Founder Announces $1-Million Grant For ProPublica"}}]}] ```