ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates if and how a private donor’s apparent motivation to ‘look good’ – or to generate symbolic capital – interacts with a news organisation’s ability to ‘do good’ by producing public service content. This issue is addressed by reporting on the findings of a year-long study of the online humanitarian news organisation IRIN as it became primarily funded by a new donor. The chapter argues that, whilst it is possible that the Foundation’s pursuit of symbolic capital may have had some effect on how IRIN sought to ‘do good’, it did not appear to affect the extent to which IRIN was either willing or able to ‘do good’. Indeed, the analysis makes clear that the influence of the Foundation only had an effect on IRIN when it combined with other factors, especially journalists’ own values and organisational strategies. Ultimately, this case highlights the limits of generalised claims about the likely influence of a donor’s desire to ‘look good’ on a news organisation.
