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The Journalism Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that promotes free and fair journalism across the world, launched in London today.

The organisation has pledged to only support initiatives that employ journalism for the good of the public, and has agreed to help journalists expose the truth in dangerous situations.

The Journalism Foundation has revealed that it will offer bursaries, as well as running an annual awards scheme.

The organisation said: 'Free journalism is under attack as never before. In the mature democracies of the West, the financial pressures faced by all media groups have meant two things: greater consolidation of media ownership, and an imperative to drive down costs. As a result, the pressure on journalists to act in the commercial interests of their proprietors is increasing, and the public can be short-changed with journalism that is compromised by political or proprietorial influence.'

Lord Ashdown commented: 'There could not be a better time for an organisation like this to be set up to ensure we get the balance right between strengthening what is best in journalism and rejecting what we all now know to be bad.'

The organisation is set to launch two separate initiatives to demonstrate the reach of its message. It is creating the first practical training course for journalists in Tunisia, in which the students will learn how to report in a free and open society. And its second project is a new website that aims to increase interest in local politics in Stoke-on-Trent. The site came as a response to the lack of coverage of council matters, and the consequent lack of public engagement with the council.

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