Ford is proud to be among the leading foundations and individual philanthropists supporting deepened and expanded coverage from National Public Radio (NPR). The grant from Ford, which NPR announced in connection with others totaling $17 million, will enable NPR to continue building on the work of Code Switch, its race, ethnicity and culture reporting initiative that launched in April.

Through both broadcast and online content, Code Switch reports on issues whose coverage has declined amid cutbacks at other media outlets. “Race, ethnicity and culture are such a vivid and important part of so many news stories as they unfold, and that’s becoming increasingly so as the U.S. shifts demographically,” Code Switch’s Matt Thompson told Current.org soon after the launch. “The more reporting that we can have addressing those issues, the better.” Recent posts have looked at the continuing fight for fair housing, the lack of blacks and Latinos in software development positions, the lives of immigrants in the meatpacking town of Garden City, Kan. and Saturday Night Live’s search for a black female cast member.

“NPR’s Code Switch is innovative in both its concept and its multi-platform approach,” said Jonathan Barzilay, the foundation’s director of Freedom of Expression. “We are pleased to support this fresh and distinctive take on the news.”

Read related coverage from The New York Times.