Ex-Independent editor launches Journalism Foundation

Simon Kelner, the former editor of the The Independent, has today launched a charity for the promotion of "free and fair" journalism across the world.

The Journalism Foundation will demonstrate how journalism "can be a force for good by supporting projects which have a direct and positive effect on people's lives".

Kelner will be the founding chief executive of the foundation, which is backed with initial finance from the Independent's owners Alexander and Evgeny Lebedev.

"I am delighted to lead this new body, which will show that journalism can be a force for good by supporting initiatives that have a direct and positive effect on people's lives," said Kelner.

The foundation is launching with two initiatives which are designed to demonstrate the "scope and range of its work". The charity has partnered with the department of journalism at London's City University to establish practical training courses for journalists in Tunisia, while resources will be provided to the Pitsnpots website in Stoke-on-Trent, which covers local council matters.

Various high-profile figures have expressed their support for the foundation, which launches at a time that journalism in the UK is under intense scrutiny following the phone hacking scandal.

Acclaimed author Salman Rushdie said: "This is an important and valuable - and needed - initiative that aims to uphold and propagate the highest journalistic standards. I wish it the very best."

Jemima Khan also welcomed The Journalism Foundation, saying that a "vibrant democracy and a free press go hand in hand".

Lord Ashdown said: "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."

Evgeny Lebedev, chairman of The Independent and the London Evening Standard, will chair the foundation's board of Trustees, which includes Baroness Kennedy, human rights lawyer Lord Fowler and Sir John Tusa, former director general of BBC World Service.

"At a time when, quite rightly, a light is being shone on malpractice in some areas of the British Press, I am delighted to give my backing to an initiative whose purpose is to demonstrate the positive aspects of journalism," said Evgeny Lebedev.

"Free speech has always been a touchstone issue for me, and an organisation intent on giving people around the world a voice is worthy of widespread support."

Alexander Lebedev added: "I am delighted the Journalism Foundation is launching. For over 20 years I have argued that democracy cannot flourish in countries without a free press.

"And it is only by championing brave, investigative journalists across the globe that international corruption can be tackled effectively. Now more than ever, we must support journalists who hold the powerful to account - and I am certain this foundation will do that brilliantly."

The Journalism Foundation said that it is seeking new projects to invest in and new partners to help fund those projects going forward.