WASHINGTON – (October 27, 2010) The Board of Directors of the Fund for Investigative Journalism has awarded grants totaling $42,000 for 11 investigative reporting projects to be published or broadcast in the U.S., and for two investigations overseas.
The Fund has supported investigative journalism since 1969. Among recent projects completed with FIJ support are Poisoning the Press, by Mark Feldstein, a biography of muckraker Jack Anderson, Yellow Dirt, by Judy Pasternak, the story of decades of uranium mining on Navajo lands and its devastating health effects, and “Stolen Futures,” a series by The Chicago Reporter on youthful offenders who are serving hard time for non-violent felonies. A longer list can be found at www.fij.org.
The most recent awards were granted to the following journalists:
Mike Anane, a freelance environmental reporter based in Ghana
Rebekah Cowell, a North Carolina based writer on social justice issues
Andy Hall, Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Christopher Ketcham, a magazine journalist whose interests range from political corruption to “the foolishness of mountain lion hunting in Oregon”
Chris Kromm, Facing South/Southern Exposure
Alden Loury, The Chicago Reporter
Tracie McMillan, author, formerly managing editor of City Limits
Ngoc Nguyen, a California-based environmental journalist
Habiba Nosheen and Anup Kaphle, multimedia video and website producers
Marilyn Snell, California based freelance writer and editor
Kelly Virella, City Limits
Forrest Wilder, a Texas-based magazine writer
Many of the grants support multi-media projects, ethnic media, and emerging media, including newly established nonprofit investigative journalism centers. The topics of grantees’ investigations are confidential until completed. In addition to critical funding for out-of-pocket expenses, grantees receive editorial guidance from mentors through a partnership with Investigative Reporters and Editors.
Several recipients this year received grants under a program funded by the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, (www.journalismfoundation.org) which donated $100,000 to support metro and regional investigative reporting and ethic media watchdog reporting.
The Fund is now accepting applications for its next grant cycle, with a deadline of Thursday, December 9. We are issuing a special call for projects focusing on environmental and governmental accountability issues as a result of a generous grant from the Park Foundation in Ithaca, New York, (www.parkfoundation.org). The Board continues to be interested in proposals that cover local and regional issues, or are written for ethnic media.
The Fund for Investigative Journalism is an independent, non-profit organization that has supported hundreds of public service reporting projects since 1969, when it provided funding for Seymour Hersh to investigate a tip about the massacre of Vietnamese civilians in My Lai. His stories won the Pulitzer Prize.
The Fund is supported through contributions from individuals and grants from private foundations. Journalists with questions about the application process are encouraged to contact executive director Sandy Bergo, by phone, 202-481-1218, or email, [email protected].