Public Interest News Foundation

What Public Interest News Foundation does

The Public Interest News Foundation (PINF) is a UK-registered charity (No. 1191397) and company limited by guarantee (No. 12320800), founded in November 2019 and headquartered in London. Established after the UK Government rejected Dame Frances Cairncross's recommendation to create a Government Institute for Public Interest News, PINF operates as the country's only charity specifically focused on regenerating local journalism. The organisation addresses the collapse of local news business models caused by digital advertising consolidation and the resulting news deserts affecting over 4 million UK residents, working at the intersection of policy advocacy, original research, and publisher network coordination.

PINF runs a portfolio of interconnected programmes rather than a traditional product stack. Core initiatives include the News for All campaign (advocating fair compensation from tech platforms), the Tenacious Journalist Awards (annual grants of £5,000-£20,000), Indie News Week (annual national event series), the PINF Index (research initiative tracking local news sustainability), the Local News Fund, Local News Campaign, Local News Futures, and the People-Powered Storytelling collaborative series. The organisation coordinates a network of 200+ independent local news publishers across the UK — including The Bristol Cable, The Ferret, Greater Govanhill Magazine, On Our Radar, and the Independent Media Association — and engages directly with regulators (DCMS, DSIT, CMA, Ofcom) and Parliament. There is no proprietary technology platform; PINF's primary deliverables are research publications, policy submissions, events, and grant programmes.

PINF is funded entirely through charitable donations and grant funding, with disclosed support from the Lankelly Chase Foundation, Changing Ideas (£100,000 for the Tenacious Awards in 2025), Reset, and academic partners including the University of Oxford. Revenue is not publicly disclosed; the organisation employs 12 staff. Its most consequential recent achievement was influencing the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, which enshrined provisions enabling collective bargaining for indie news publishers with technology platforms — a direct result of PINF's October 2023 amendment being accepted into the Bill.

Name

Public Interest News Foundation

Legal name

Public Interest News Foundation

Website

https://publicinterestnews.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Public Interest News Foundation (PINF) is a UK charity founded in 2019 that regenerates local journalism by advocating for fair tech-platform compensation, coordinating a network of 200+ independent news publishers, and funding community news programmes.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local News Advocacy and Media Sustainability Services

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Investigative & Nonprofit News Organizations (MPAJADAF)

Keywords

• Local news advocacy
• Media sustainability
• Journalism funding
• News policy
• Independent media

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Charitable Donations: PINF accepts donations through PayPal and other channels to support its work regenerating local news across the UK.
2. Grant Funding: PINF receives grant funding from foundations and individuals including Lankelly Chase Foundation, Changing Ideas, Reset, and Coral Milburn-Curtis from the University of Oxford to support specific projects and research.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

PINF is a UK charity that regenerates local news by convening a network of 200+ independent publishers, running advocacy campaigns such as News for All to influence UK policy on big tech compensation, conducting research (including the PINF Index and a £2.2 billion valuation of news to Google), and administering grant and award programs such as the Local News Fund and Tenacious Journalist Awards. Its operational focus is policy influence, research publication, and network coordination rather than commercial product delivery, supported by donations and charitable grants.

Product overview

Public Interest News Foundation (PINF) is the UK's only charity regenerating local news. Rather than a traditional product company, PINF operates a portfolio of interconnected programs and campaigns: the Local News Fund provides financial resources to local outlets; the Local News Campaign advocates for policy support from the BBC, tech companies, and government; and Local News Futures spotlights innovative journalism approaches. PINF runs the Tenacious Journalist Awards providing grants to journalists and coordinates the annual Indie News Week celebration. Its PINF Index conducts research on local news sustainability, while the News for All campaign has influenced legislation for fair tech compensation. The People-Powered Storytelling collaborative series brings together community media organisations to showcase grassroots journalism. Together, these initiatives form an advocacy and support ecosystem for independent local journalism across the UK.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Tenacious Awards: Annual awards recognizing tenacious journalists, supported by Changing Ideas, with prizes ranging from £5,000 to £20,000 per winner.
• Indie News Week
• Local News Fund
• News for All Campaign
• PINF Index

Products and services

• Local News Fund
• Local News Campaign
• Local News Futures
• Tenacious Journalist Awards
• Indie News Week
• PINF Index
• News for All Campaign
• People-Powered Storytelling

Quantifiable outcome

• Influenced passage of Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, enabling collective bargaining for indie publishers
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• University of OxfordminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoral Milburn-Curtis from the University of Oxford provided generous support for PINF's research into how the 2024 General Election was covered in constituencies across the UK.
• BBCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPINF campaigns for the BBC to complement high-quality local news providers through partnerships. The organization's Local News Campaign focuses on building relationships with the BBC to support local news to thrive.
• People-Powered Storytelling NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPINF hosts the People-Powered Storytelling series featuring 10 organizations: The Bristol Cable, The Ferret, Greater Govanhill Magazine, On Our Radar, The People's Newsroom, Travellers' Times, Sounddelivery Media, Untelevised, Fully Focused/Million Youth Media, and former gal-dem.
• Independent Media AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPINF coordinates with the Independent Media Association which is a key organizer of collective bargaining efforts with Google under the DMCCA, helping indie publishers get involved in negotiations.
• The Bristol CablecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Bristol Cable is a local media co-op and member of PINF's network, featured in People-Powered Storytelling series. They hosted Indie News Week 2026 events and share best practices on membership models.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Reporters Without Borders (RSF): International NGO defending press freedom and supporting journalists globally. Adjacent peer given shared mission of sustaining journalism as a public good, though with a press-freedom rather than local-news-economic mandate.
• European Journalism Centre: Netherlands-based foundation supporting journalism innovation and development across Europe. Comparable in being a continental intermediary funder focused on journalism sustainability — adjacent geography and overlapping programmatic themes.

Others

• Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ): US-headquartered NGO promoting press freedom and journalist safety worldwide. Thematically adjacent as a journalism-focused nonprofit advocate, but with different scope (safety vs. economic sustainability).

Direct peers

• Independent Media Association: UK trade body for independent news publishers that PINF coordinates with directly on collective bargaining under the DMCCA. They share the same core constituency (UK indie publishers) and overlap on bargaining and advocacy functions.
• Lankelly Chase Foundation: UK charitable foundation that funds PINF directly (via People-Powered Storytelling and other initiatives). Operates as a UK grantmaking foundation addressing systemic inequality — same funding model and UK geography as PINF.
• Lenfest Institute for Journalism: US-based nonprofit that funds and supports local journalism with a comparable model of philanthropic capital plus industry convening. Operates on a similar 'intermediary funder' thesis to address local news decline.
• Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF): Global nonprofit that invests in independent media worldwide. Comparable mission of sustaining independent journalism against market and political pressures, though MDIF uses investment capital rather than pure grants.

Broad incumbents

• News Media Alliance: US trade association representing news publishers. Comparable to PINF's role in coordinating the UK publisher network, with similar advocacy and collective bargaining objectives vis-à-vis Big Tech platforms.
• Knight Foundation: One of the largest US journalism philanthropy funders, supporting local news sustainability, newsroom innovation, and policy advocacy. Operates at greater scale but the same mission of regenerating local journalism through philanthropic capital.
• Scott Trust / Guardian Foundation: UK ownership structure supporting The Guardian's independent journalism. Comparable as a UK-based journalistic philanthropy with grantmaking arms and editorial mission alignment.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/public-interest-news-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Public Interest News Foundation