Fact Sheet on the new Pew Research Center

Fact Sheet on the new Pew Research Center

Who: 
President: Andrew Kohut
Executive Vice President: Paul Taylor

Member Projects and Directors:

  • Pew Research Center for the People and the Press – led by Andrew Kohut     
  • Project for Excellence in Journalism (expected to join in 2006) – led by Tom Rosenstiel     
  • Stateline.org – led by Ed Fouhy and Gene Gibbons     
  • Pew Internet & American Life Project – led by Lee Rainie     
  • Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life – led by Luis Lugo     
  • Pew Hispanic Center – led by Roberto Suro     
  • Pew Global Attitudes Project – led by Andrew Kohut

Staff: In addition to staff for the above projects, the PRC will have new staff to direct administration, survey research, communications, human resources and provide staff support.

Board: The subsidiary will have its own governing board which will oversee day-to-day operations, including setting policies and approving budgets.

What: 
As a nonprofit subsidiary of the Trusts, the new Pew Research Center will bring together some of the best experts on trends that are changing America and how the public views them.

Mission:

  • To inform the public with independent, nonpartisan research, polling and news on important issues and trends of the day.     
  • Be a news resource and think tank--a ‘fact tank' that provides timely, reliable information to help policy makers, business, civic and other leaders better understand the public's point of view, and help the public better understand the issues and trends that affect their lives.     
  • Build on the credibility and experience of each of its information projects, which have demonstrated their ability to sense emerging newsworthy trends, disseminate information on a wide range of international, national and state-based issues, convene policy leaders on timely topics, and maintain a strict commitment to independent, nonpartisan research.

Budget: The PRC will have an annual budget for operations & staff of its information projects of approximately $15 million in 2004 and 2005, supported largely by grants directly from the Trusts. The PRC will also be able to attract supplemental funding from outside sources.

Why: 
The Pew Charitable Trusts established PRC as a sign of it long-term commitment to informing the public with credible, reliable research, polling and news. The move was enabled by the Trusts' new public charity status. PRC will enhance the quality and broaden the reach of the Trusts' Information portfolio by creating new opportunities among the projects to collaborate with one another and more nimbly address new research areas. The subsidiary will also enable the Trusts to reduce administrative costs associated with making grants for the seven information projects to multiple organizations who host the initiatives.

When: 
Approved by the Trusts' board on March 16, 2004, PRC will become operational July 1, 2004. The information projects will move into a common office space beginning in December 2004.

Where: 
Pew Research Center will be based in Washington, D.C.