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Jack Dorsey philanthropic initiative donates $750,000 to BBC Media Action charity
Melanie May | 22 January 2025 | News
#StartSmall, the philanthropic initiative of Jack Dorsey, co-founder and former CEO and Chairman of Twitter (now X), has donated $750,000 (just over £608k) to BBC Media Action for its work with independent media around the world.
#StartSmall launched in 2020, first supporting global COVID-19 relief. It now supports global crisis relief, girls’ health and education, and open internet development including freedom of speech and the press.
The investment will support BBC Media Action’s Pursuit of Truth initiative to ‘support the young journalists of tomorrow’, and will enable the charity to invest in its new global strategy to tackle division, distrust and disinformation through its support for independent media.
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The BBC’s international charity, BBC Media Action works in 30 countries around the world, and the organisation says it reaches more than 100 million people each year in more than 50 languages. Its Pursuit of Truth was announced at the Clinton Global Initiative by BBC News Deputy CEO and Global Director Jonathan Munro in September 2024, and pledges to mobilise $20 million from donors and partners over the next three years to support independent media to counter mis- and disinformation and build digital media literacy among young people in low- and middle-income countries.
BBC Media Action Chief Executive Officer Simon Bishop said:
“Our work has never been more critical, with 75% of the world without a fully free press, and autocracy and disinformation on the rise. We are grateful for this investment in our work to support the critical fourth pillar of society – to ensure we and our media partners can continue to deliver the trusted information that our audiences need most.
“Investing in our Pursuit of Truth initiative will enable us to deliver frontline training and financial support to independent media most in need, and to support the journalists of tomorrow on the frontlines of global crises – whether that is through the war in Ukraine, small radio stations focused on the needs and voices of women in rural Afghanistan, or social media platforms reaching disengaged young people in Libya.
“As we celebrate 25 years since our founding by the BBC World Service, we thank Mr Dorsey and the #StartSmall initiative for their support. We cannot win the fight to protect independent media and trusted information alone, and we encourage other philanthropists to join our cause.”
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.