WASHINGTON – The Board of Directors of the Fund for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) has awarded $42,000 in grants for ten investigative projects.
The grants provide the resources necessary to travel to interview sources and research documentary evidence, and for other out-of-pocket expenses. FIJ’s grant-making program is made possible by support from The Gannett Foundation, The Herb Block Foundation, the Park Foundation, the Morton K. and Jane Blaustein Foundation, the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, the Green Park Foundation, the Nara Fund, the Otto-Whalley Family Foundation, and generous donations from individuals.
Investigative journalists receiving grants are:
Rick Cohen, whose reporting focuses on nonprofits and foundations
Laura Kasinof, freelance reporter
Trey Kay, radio journalist and documentary maker
Chris Kromm, Facing South, North Carolina-based online magazine
Erin Siegal McIntyre, Tijuana-based investigative writer and photographer
Brandon Quester and Tarryn Mento, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting
Alexandra Robbins, author
Matt Rusling, reporter specializing in covering Asia
Joseph Sorrentino, Albuquerque-based journalist and photographer
Laird Townsend, director, Project Word
FIJ grantees investigate corruption, malfeasance, and abuse of power in the public and private sectors. Past awardees have exposed wrongdoing by private food producing companies, religious leaders, local district attorneys, and the FBI – to name a few examples.
In addition to funding, interested grantees are eligible to receive mentors through partnerships with Investigative Reporters and Editors and with the Society of Environmental Journalists.
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 the massacre of civilians in My Lai during the Vietnam War. His stories won the Pulitzer Prize. Recent FIJ grantees have also won prestigious journalism awards, including the Sidney Hillman Foundation Journalism Award, Investigative Reporters and Editors awards, and the Sigma Delta Chi award.
FIJ is supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Chair in Investigative and Enterprise Reporting at the Journalism Department in the College of Media at the University of Illinois. Pro bono legal services are provided by the Dykema law firm.
Links to FIJ-supported projects are posted on www.fij.org. Grant application instructions can also be found on the website. Contact executive director Sandy Bergo, 202-662-7564, or [email protected] with any questions about the application process. The next deadline for applications is Monday, June 10, 2013 – 5pm Eastern Time.