The Seattle Times, the Tampa Bay Times, Axios and the Poynter Institute have revealed that they have received small business loans through the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program.
The Poynter Institute announced on Thursday that it had been granted a $737,400 loan after showing that 15% of its revenue was “at risk” due to the pandemic. The funding, Poynter President Neil Brown said, will help the non-profit organization avoid layoffs, furloughs and pay cuts, while also helping to offset costs for utilities and rent for the D.C.-based website PolitiFact, which is owned by Poynter.
“This loan buys us time to find new revenue sources while still offering online training and expertise, battling disinformation and chronicling the journalism industry’s hard and heroic efforts,” Brown said.