Who we are We invest in independent, critical media and a strong, just democratic state. History The Democracy and Media Foundation is the successor of Stichting Het Parool, founded in 1944 by the founders of the illegal resistance newspaper Het Parool. After the privatisation of the post-war newspaper in 2003, Stichting Het Parool changed its name to Stichting Democratie en Media (SDM) – in English the Democracy and Media Foundation (DMF). Click here to read more about our history. Objectives DMF invests in independent, critical journalism and a strong, just constitutional democracy. Furthermore, one of the statutory objectives of the foundation is to support the surviving relatives of those who lost their lives or were otherwise harmed for their support of the illegal newspaper Het Parool. Equity The Democracy and Media Foundation is an equity fund. The biggest share of our capital is invested in media companies, namely De Persgroep Nederland (i.a. De Volkskrant, Trouw and Het Algemeen Dagblad) and De Correspondent. With these investments, we support truth-finding and plurality within the Dutch media landscape. We are also one of the initiators of the European Press Prize. The rest of our capital is invested with the ABN AMRO MeesPierson and IBS Capital Allies. We use the returns of these investments to support initiatives and organizations which contribute to a strong and honest constitutional democracy as well as independent media. Among others, we support publications, lectures, documentaries, technological innovations, exhibitions, prizes in journalism and training for journalists.