Funding, editorial mentorship and legal support will help journalists produce groundbreaking investigative stories
WASHINGTON, DC, November 16, 2022 – The Fund for Investigative Journalism today announced that its board of directors has awarded grants to reporters and media outlets for 21 new investigative projects.
The new grantees are working on local, state and national investigative stories in 11 states in every part of the country, including Idaho, Utah, Florida, Texas, New Hampshire and Illinois. In addition to funding to cover the expenses of their investigations, these reporters will also have the opportunity to be matched with seasoned editorial mentors and they can request free legal assistance through the Fund’s partnership with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
While the Fund does not disclose the nature of grantees’ investigations before they are published or broadcast, these new grantees are working on major investigations related to criminal justice, government and corporate accountability, the environment, civil rights, threats to democracy and more. Reporters, teams and outlets receiving grants include:
- Lynzy Billing, a freelance investigative journalist and photographer based between Afghanistan and Iraq
- Matt Chapman, freelance investigative reporter in Chicago
- FLCGANews.org, a news service of the Florida Center for Government Accountability, for a project led by Barbara Petersen
- Fort Worth Reporter, for a project led by Emily Wolf
- Jen Harlowe, a journalist, author and documentary filmmaker
- Hyde Park Herald, for a project by freelance reporter Jason Schumer
- Idaho Education News
- Investigate West
- Jake Kincaid, a 2020 graduate of the Stabile Investigative program at Columbia Journalism school
- Spenser Mestel, an independent journalist based in Brooklyn
- Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
- New Hampshire Public Radio
- OpenSecrets, for a project led by Anna Massoglia
- Lee Romney, an independent journalist and audio producer in Oakland, California
- San Francisco Public Press, for a project led by Madison Alvarado
- Texas Observer
- Open Vallejo
- Salt Lake Tribune, for a project led by Jessica Miller
- Savanna Strott, a freelance reporter from Las Vegas
- Amy Westervelt, award-winning investigative climate journalist
- Wisconsin Watch, for a project led by Gia Dinon
For an index of stories produced with the Fund’s support in the last 18 months, go to: https://fij.org/index-of-grantees-stories/. For highlights of impact stemming from stories produced with the Fund’s support, go to: https://fij.org/impact/.
The Fund is currently accepting applications for emergency grants on threats to democracy in the U.S., which are reviewed on a rolling basis. The next deadline for regular grants on any topic is January 18. For more on grant deadlines and applications, go to: https://fij.org/apply-for-a-grant/.