The Benton Foundation is a nonprofit organization set up by former

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Senator William Benton and his wife, Helen Hemingway Benton. Their son,

Charles Benton Charles Benton (February 13, 1931 – April 29, 2015) was an American executive who served as the CEO and Chairman of the Board of the Benton Foundation and former CEO of Public Media Incorporated, a film and video publisher and distributor. E ...

, served as chairman and CEO until his death in 2015. The Benton Foundation was the owner of the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

'' from 1974 until 1996, when it was bought by

Jacqui Safra Jacqui (Jacob) Eli Safra (born c. 1940) is a billionaire investor from Geneva. He is a descendant of the Syrian Lebanese- Swiss Jewish Safra banking family. Biography Jacqui Eli Safra is the son of Elie Safra (1922–1993) and Yvette Dabbah ( ...

History

The formation of the Benton Foundation was announced at the bicentennial banquet for the ''Britannica'' in 1968. The mission of the Foundation was re-vamped somewhat in 1981 by Charles Benton, but it has always focused on using media for the public good, particularly for educational purposes. In 1992, Benton launched the Communications Policy Program with a grant from

MacArthur Foundation The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private foundation that makes grants and impact investments to support non-profit organizations in approximately 50 countries around the world. It has an endowment of $7.0 billion and p ...

, the first major grant he had received. Since 2001, Benton is home for the US center for OneWorld.net, a global information service, search engine, and network of organizations working for sustainable development and human rights. In recent years, the Foundation has been most famous for its championing of digital access and for demanding public responsibility by mass media. The Benton Foundation has pushed for a national broadband policy at the highest levels of

government. It has also been pushing the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

(FCC) to determine the public interest obligations of digital television broadcasters. Finally, it has sponsored studies that suggest that

concentration of media ownership Concentration of media ownership (also known as media consolidation or media convergence) is a process whereby progressively fewer individuals or organizations control increasing shares of the mass media. Contemporary research demonstrates in ...

in a few hands is not in the interests of the United States. Leonard Jay Schrager became new chairman of Benton in 2015 following the death of Benton Foundation Founder and Chairman Charles Benton who died on 29 April 2015.

Funding

Funding details as of 2018:

Awards

Charles Benton Digital Equity Champion Award

The

Digital Equity Champion Award honors governance and commitment to improving digital equity which ranges from propagating accessible and affordable communications technology for all Americans and its successful implementation. Award winners: * 2016

David Keyes David Keyes () is an Israeli-American public relations representative and human rights activist. Keyes was the executive director of Advancing Human Rights, the co-founder of CyberDissidents.org, and the head of Movements.org, a platform for ...

Charles Benton Next Generation Engagement Award

The Charles Benton Next Generation Engagement Award is a City award for competitive civic innovation which find groundbreaking and creative solutions to local challenges. Recipients include: * 2016

Raleigh, NC Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southea ...

* 2016

Austin, TX Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

* 2016

Louisville, KY Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

Honors

On 9 February 2007, Benton Foundation Chairman and CEO Charles Benton received the Susan G. Hadden Pioneer Award from the Alliance for Public Technology for "pioneering efforts in telecommunications and consumer access."

References

External links

*
Digital Divide Network

Connect for Kids

Sound Partners for Community Health
{{Authority control Internet-related activism Digital divide activists Foundations based in the United States Encyclopædia Britannica