https://dcebrief.com/ripple-donates-2-m-to-univ-of-kansas-for-crypto-research/
I don't know.. such an article evokes a label like "green-washing" in me. There are other crypto projects out there that sponsor scholarships with some ICO money - as more and a lot of research is needed. But only about big players reports are written with the consequence people keep a positive attribution in mind.
I can understand both sides of that issue. It costs significantly more to report on a small project that already doesn't get much exposure in research, writing, and verification of stories. As a project it is significantly more difficult to get your news out to these outlets without paying significant money (https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/26/more-than-half-of-crypto-news-sites-are-pay-for-play/), not being one of the top 5 or 10 cryptos. Up to 5,000 for a press release that is for all practical purposes hidden on the site, and just for one news outlet. We don't appreciate the pay to play model, but also at the same time it does cost money and time to do the reporting.
There will be a solution for DCEBrief eventually, to get much more significant news. For HERo, we have reversed the model, you don't have to pay to have your article/contributor profile/companies/projects/events listed. However, we do request supporting our efforts through helping us gain exposure and through sponsorship, which allows us to do more and reach more people.
The great advantage of sponsorship models is the ethical side of the equation, where you are not beholden to any particular groups special interests / impartiality. Pay for play has made it difficult to draw the lines between opinion and news, and newsworthy / shilling. Both DCEBrief and Hero follow more business models that reject "pay for play" to keep the integrity of the information flow to our readers in tact.