Type Media Center
EIN: 13-6216903
Mission
Type Media Center is a non-profit home for independent journalists and truth-tellers at all stages of their careers. Our mission is to produce high-impact journalism and literary nonfiction that addresses injustice and inequality, catalyzes change, informs and uplifts social movements, and sparks national and global conversations while transforming and diversifying the fields of journalism and publishing.
Ruling year
1967
Executive Director & CEO
Taya Kitman
Main address
30 Irving Place 10th Floor
New York, NY 10003 USA
Formerly known as
The Nation Institue
EIN
13-6216903
Foundations
Investigative journalism
Human rights
Population served
Adults
Sexual identity
Ethnic and racial groups
Social and economic status
Work status and occupations
NTEE code
Research Institutes and/or Public Policy Analysis (R05)
IRS subsection
501(c)(3) Public Charity
IRS filing requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.
Tax forms
Communication
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Founded in 1966 (as The Nation Institute), Type Media Center is home to a half-dozen programs and a community of hundreds of journalists, authors, and writing fellows. Our dynamic range of programs includes a bestselling book publishing imprint, Bold Type Books (formerly known as Nation Books); our award-winning Type Investigations (formerly known as the Investigative Fund), which supports groundbreaking investigative journalism; TomDispatch, the widely read and syndicated website; Fellowships that fund over 20 high-profile reporters every year; Prize programs that spotlight the invaluable achievements of others; and high-profile events that provide a platform for key journalists, thinkers, and activists to discuss the urgent and important issues of our time.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Type Investigations
Type Investigations, formerly The Investigative Fund, incubates high-impact investigative reporting that holds the powerful accountable. We bring underreported stories to light, cultivate diverse journalistic talent, and create a home for independent journalism that serves the public.
We work with independent investigative reporters to produce deeply reported journalism that we publish in partnership with a wide variety of print, broadcast and digital media outlets — allowing us to bring investigative reporting to diverse audiences. Our editors provide diverse freelance reporters with expert editorial guidance, a team of researchers, and funds to cover their travel, time and other reporting costs. We are committed to reporting from the ground level, finding stories and sources among the communities most affected by wrongdoing.
Type Investigations covers the most critical issues of our time: immigration, labor, environment, corporate and government malfeasance, and civil and human rights.
Bold Type Books
Bold Type Books is one of the leading independent publishers of serious nonfiction in America. Dedicated to continuing this country's long tradition of progressive thought, our titles focus on current events and politics, international relations, the environment, corporate crime, religion, culture, and economics. Founded in 2000 as Nation Books, Bold Type Books has become one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful imprints in independent publishing.
The goal of the imprint is to produce authoritative books by leading writers and thinkers that break new ground and shed light on current social and political issues. We publish established authors who are leaders in their area of expertise, but also endeavor to cultivate a new generation of emerging and talented journalists. With each of our books we aim to impact cultural and political discourse and to help affect positive social change.
TomDispatch
Tom Engelhardt launched TomDispatch.com in November 2001 as an e-mail publication offering commentary and collected articles from the world press. In December 2002, it gained its name, became a project of The Nation Institute, and went online as "a regular antidote to the mainstream media." The site now features Tom Engelhardt's regular commentaries and the original work of authors ranging from Rebecca Solnit, Bill McKibben, and Mike Davis to Chalmers Johnson, Michael Klare, Andrew Bacevich, Robert Lipsyte, and Barbara Ehrenreich. Nick Turse, who also writes for the site, is associate editor and research director.
TomDispatch is intended to introduce readers to voices and perspectives from elsewhere (even when the elsewhere is here). Its mission is to connect some of the global dots regularly left unconnected by the mainstream media and to offer a clearer sense of how this imperial globe of ours actually works. The email newsletter has 23,000 subscribers and on average, each TomDispatch essay reaches at least 100,000 readers.
TypeFellows
The Type Fellows program is open to both emerging and established journalists. We aim to support journalists with multi-year funding and to provide them with the resources they need to do their best work. Each year, we raise over 1.3 million dollars to support over 30 fellows. The issues our writers focus on — protecting human rights; promoting greater economic, racial, and gender equality; challenging corporate power; reporting on the imminent threat of climate change; advocating for greater government transparency — all serve the public interest in the broadest sense. We seek to advance these values and to nurture and support high-quality journalism in all its forms, new and old, while upholding traditional standards of accuracy and integrity.
A top priority for us is doubling down on our commitment to nurturing diverse voices. In this challenging media environment, where steady newsroom jobs are diminishing, talented freelancers struggle to make a basic living wage, particularly those who may need to spend months on the ground reporting for very little pay. With that in mind, we work to raise fellowship stipends to close that gap, which is also often a barrier to greater diversity in the profession.
TypePrizes
Our prizes spotlight the invaluable achievements of others. They allow us to publicly support acts of political bravery from truth-telling journalists, leading activists, and visionary artists. Each prize is accompanied by a financial award, providing material support for future work.
The Ridenhour Prizes:
The annual Ridenhour Prizes recognize acts of truth-telling that protect the public interest, promote social justice or illuminate a more just vision of society. These prizes memorialize the spirit of fearless truth-telling that whistleblower and investigative journalist Ron Ridenhour reflected throughout his extraordinary life and career. Each prizes carries a $10,000 stipend.
The Puffin Prize for Creative Citizenship:
The Puffin Foundation Ltd. and Type Media Center are the mutual sponsors of an annual award in the amount of $100,000 given to an individual who has challenged the status quo through distinctive, courageous, imaginative and socially responsible work of significance. Candidates are to be found in a broad range of occupations and pursuits, including academia, journalism, public health, literature, art, the environmental sciences, labor and the humanities. The prize is intended to encourage the recipients to continue their work, and to inspire others to challenge the prevailing orthodoxies they face in their careers.
Robert Masur Fellowship in Civil Liberties:
The Robert Masur fellowship competition is open to first-year law students who intend to carry out significant activities during the summer (in between their first and second year) in the areas of civil rights and/or civil liberties. Proposed activities may include a writing or research project, work with a public interest organization in the areas of civil rights or civil liberties, work on a civil rights or civil liberties law case under the supervision of a faculty member or lawyer, or any other work in the areas of civil rights or civil liberties. The fellowship recipient receives a $2,000 honorarium.
Where we work
External reviews
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of media partnerships developed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Type Investigations
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
In recent years, Type Investigations has invested in expanding our partnerships to local, topic-focused, and BIPOC-led newsrooms — valuing the depth of impact with our partners over quantity.
Number of sector award nominations earned by the organization
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Type Investigations
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of policies formally established
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Type Investigations
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Type Media Center is a non-profit home for independent journalists and truth-tellers at all stages of their careers. Our mission is to produce high-impact journalism and literary nonfiction that addresses injustice and inequality, catalyzes change, informs and uplifts social movements, and sparks national and global conversations while transforming and diversifying the fields of journalism and publishing.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our programs collaborate to produce hard-hitting, fact checked, and legally vetted work in the public interest, all the while maintaining individual editorial independence. We place a high priority on coverage of a range of issues including the environment and climate change, immigration, race and social justice, and human rights. As a small organization, we have had significant successes in producing a wide range of deep dive investigations, books, and other original reporting and analysis that punches far above weight. We’ve been able to accomplish this in part by making strategic investments in writers who cover those key issue areas.
We’ve put together a team of award-winning editors to run our top-notch investigative journalism shop, Type Investigations, and our acclaimed non-fiction book imprint, Bold Type Books. We’ve brought on dozens of writers and reporters as Type Fellows to explore our key issue areas, including immigration, the environment, labor, reproductive justice and health care, race, and gender. The result is an expansive portfolio of high-quality journalism, analysis, and other non-fiction work that often leads to real-world change. This work reaches millions of readers and viewers each year through our partner publishers.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Type Media Center produces high-impact journalism that addresses issues of injustice and inequality, while simultaneously transforming and diversifying the field of journalism itself. We work with diverse media makers at all stages of their careers to produce a substantial and award-winning investigative journalism, non-fiction books, expert analysis and commentary. Type is a women-led non-profit organization that provides a unique and supportive home for independent journalists and truth-tellers, and achieves the kind of groundbreaking work that catalyzes change, informs and uplifts movements, and sparks national and global conversations.
Type Media Center is the rare journalism organization that produces content across virtually every platform: books, print and online articles, radio shows, television broadcasts, podcasts, and more. Our social justice journalism appears on the most popular news outlets in the country—including the New York Times, ABC News, Washington Post Magazine, National Public Radio, VICE, Rolling Stone, and hundreds more—and our book editors have the might of a Big Five publishing house behind them. Unlike our competitors, we are not confined to a handful of partners or to publishing in only one or two mediums.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Supporting diverse journalists of all ages
We are the only organization that builds the field by working with journalists at all stages of their careers. We offer a rare infrastructure that shepherds writers from a fact checking internship, to intensive editorial mentorship as they produce their first investigative stories, to developing and publishing their first books, to providing paid fellowships to cover our priority issue areas.
Strengthening diversity in all forms is core to these efforts. Our Ida B. Wells Fellowship supports a new cohort of journalists of color each year as they produce and publish their first investigative projects.
Recognizing excellence and courage in the field
Through the Puffin Prize for Creative Citizenship and the Ridenhour Prizes we shine a bright light on the groundbreaking work of inspiring filmmakers, authors, social justice champions, and truth-tellers. Our Type Events range from intimate Type Talks and author events to our end of the year Gala.
Programs
Type Media Center's programs collaborate to produce hard-hitting, fact checked and legally vetted work in the public interest, all the while maintaining individual editorial independence. At the same time, each project has its own unique set of goals designed to disrupt systems of injustice and produce truth-telling work.
Type Investigations is a newsroom for high-impact investigative reporting that holds the powerful accountable. Bold Type Books is an imprint in partnership with Hachette Book Group and a leading voice in non-fiction publishing. We provide Type Fellows with multi-year funding, editorial support, and other resources needed to cover our priority issue areas. Type Prizes and Events allow us to publicly support acts of political bravery from truth-telling journalists, leading activists, and visionary artists. Since 2001, Tom Engelhardt’s TomDispatch has kept a sharp focus on America’s wars even as they have slipped in—and largely out—of mainstream debate and discussion.
Financials
Financial documents
Download audited financialsRevenue vs. expenses: breakdown
Liquidity in 2021 info
45.41
Months of cash in 2021 info
7
Fringe rate in 2021 info
28%
Funding sources info
Assets & liabilities info
Type Media Center
Revenue & expensesFiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
SOURCE: IRS Form 990
Type Media Center
Balance sheetFiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
SOURCE: IRS Form 990
The balance sheet gives a snapshot of the financial health of an organization at a particular point in time. An organization's total assets should generally exceed its total liabilities, or it cannot survive long, but the types of assets and liabilities must also be considered. For instance, an organization's current assets (cash, receivables, securities, etc.) should be sufficient to cover its current liabilities (payables, deferred revenue, current year loan, and note payments). Otherwise, the organization may face solvency problems. On the other hand, an organization whose cash and equivalents greatly exceed its current liabilities might not be putting its money to best use.
Fiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
SOURCE: IRS Form 990
This snapshot of Type Media Center’s financial trends applies Nonprofit Finance Fund® analysis to data hosted by GuideStar. While it highlights the data that matter most, remember that context is key – numbers only tell part of any story.
Created in partnership with
Business model indicators
| Profitability info | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted surplus (deficit) before depreciation | $54,615 | $196,575 | $85,055 | $740,484 | $56,413 |
| As % of expenses | 1.3% | 4.2% | 2.0% | 16.8% | 1.4% |
| Unrestricted surplus (deficit) after depreciation | $52,976 | $196,575 | $85,055 | $740,484 | $56,413 |
| As % of expenses | 1.3% | 4.2% | 2.0% | 16.8% | 1.4% |
| Revenue composition info | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue (unrestricted & restricted) | $3,741,480 | $4,919,000 | $3,977,799 | $3,948,218 | $4,342,257 |
| Total revenue, % change over prior year | -19.6% | 31.5% | -19.1% | -0.7% | 10.0% |
| Program services revenue | 1.9% | 1.5% | 1.8% | 1.8% | 1.8% |
| Membership dues | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Investment income | 1.9% | 1.5% | 2.1% | 2.0% | 1.3% |
| Government grants | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 6.7% | 6.4% |
| All other grants and contributions | 84.3% | 90.1% | 88.1% | 64.3% | 81.0% |
| Other revenue | 11.9% | 6.9% | 8.0% | 25.2% | 9.5% |
| Expense composition info | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses before depreciation | $4,128,858 | $4,651,240 | $4,234,716 | $4,396,529 | $3,997,395 |
| Total expenses, % change over prior year | 8.2% | 12.7% | -9.0% | 3.8% | -9.1% |
| Personnel | 38.4% | 38.0% | 37.5% | 42.8% | 43.5% |
| Professional fees | 7.1% | 8.8% | 9.5% | 9.3% | 10.7% |
| Occupancy | 4.2% | 4.0% | 5.1% | 4.5% | 8.4% |
| Interest | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Pass-through | 35.8% | 37.3% | 28.9% | 31.3% | 25.6% |
| All other expenses | 14.5% | 12.0% | 19.0% | 12.2% | 11.8% |
| Full cost components (estimated) info | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses (after depreciation) | $4,130,497 | $4,651,240 | $4,234,716 | $4,396,529 | $3,997,395 |
| One month of savings | $344,072 | $387,603 | $352,893 | $366,377 | $333,116 |
| Debt principal payment | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Fixed asset additions | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $24,863 |
| Total full costs (estimated) | $4,474,569 | $5,038,843 | $4,587,609 | $4,762,906 | $4,355,374 |
Capital structure indicators
| Liquidity info | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Months of cash | 6.7 | 6.9 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 7.0 |
| Months of cash and investments | 16.3 | 15.5 | 17.8 | 14.4 | 20.0 |
| Months of estimated liquid unrestricted net assets | 3.6 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 6.2 | 6.9 |
| Balance sheet composition info | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | $2,316,286 | $2,668,867 | $1,610,898 | $1,591,691 | $2,338,797 |
| Investments | $3,278,159 | $3,357,450 | $4,658,101 | $3,694,479 | $4,317,859 |
| Receivables | $994,827 | $540,663 | $505,556 | $1,310,767 | $802,469 |
| Gross land, buildings, equipment (LBE) | $196,270 | $196,270 | $196,270 | $196,270 | $110,481 |
| Accumulated depreciation (as a % of LBE) | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 77.5% |
| Liabilities (as a % of assets) | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1.5% | 1.9% |
| Unrestricted net assets | $1,234,284 | $1,430,859 | $1,515,914 | $2,256,398 | $2,312,811 |
| Temporarily restricted net assets | $5,366,737 | $5,127,534 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Permanently restricted net assets | $0 | $0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Total restricted net assets | $5,366,737 | $5,127,534 | $5,295,200 | $4,330,520 | $5,096,493 |
| Total net assets | $6,601,021 | $6,558,393 | $6,811,114 | $6,586,918 | $7,409,304 |
Key data checks
| Key data checks info | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Material data errors | No | No | No | No | No |
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Documents
Executive Director & CEO
Taya Kitman
Number of employees
Source: IRS Form 990
Type Media Center
Officers, directors, trustees, and key employeesSOURCE: IRS Form 990
Compensation data
Type Media Center
Highest paid employeesSOURCE: IRS Form 990
Compensation data
Type Media Center
Board of directorsas of 05/23/2023
Board of directors data
Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte
Taya Kitman
Davis Weinstock
Paula Giddings
Jeff Kusama-Hinte
Richard Foos
Conrad Martin
Kai Wright
Jenna Weiss-Berman
Meetali Jain
Abby Rapoport
Ben Wyskida
Sumi Aggarwal
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
-
Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
No data
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 10/25/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Contractors
Fiscal year endingProfessional fundraisers
Fiscal year endingSOURCE: IRS Form 990 Schedule G
Solicitation activities
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- Letter of Determination
- Officer and/or Employee data for 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017
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