Freedom Forum

The Freedom Forum is a nonprofit organization that runs the First Amendment Center and the Newseum Institute at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. The Freedom Forum is also the creator and parent organization to the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

The Freedom Forum was founded in 1991 when the Gannett Foundation, started by publisher Frank E. Gannett as a charitable foundation to aid communities where his company had newspapers, sold its name and assets back to Gannett Company for $670 million. Retired Gannett chairman and USA Today newspaper founder Al Neuharth took the money and the shell of the foundation and formed the Freedom Forum. Its mission was to foster "free press, free speech and free spirit."[1][2]

Neuharth's daughter, Jan A. Neuharth, is chief executive officer and chair of the Freedom Forum.[3]

The financial losses of the Freedom Forum and Newseum have been controversial from the beginning, leading to criticism of high salaries[4] and some unusual proposals.[5]

References
  1. "The Freedom Forum's Shrinking Endowment". American Journalism Review. November 2001. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  2. "About the Freedom Forum". Freedom Forum. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  3. "Freedom Forum's new chair has a familiar name; quiet board reshuffle keeps a Neuharth in control". December 8, 2011. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  4. "As Freedom Forum posted another $48M deficit, non-profit paid retired CEO Overby nearly $1M; new documents disclose a comical money trail". November 17, 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  5. "Heavily in debt, Newseum considered risky strategy to improve finances". July 1, 2015. Retrieved September 6, 2017.



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