WASHINGTON, DC; April 22, 2026 – The Fund for Investigative Journalism announced today that it is awarding 70 new grants to journalists for groundbreaking investigations. The grants cover the expenses of specific investigative stories, and recipients can also receive free editorial and legal assistance.
This group of grants, from the Fund’s first funding cycle of the year, is by far the largest in the Fund’s 57-year history – a reflection of both the sharply increasing need for support for public-service journalism and the Fund’s growth in recent years to meet this need.
The Fund provides grants for investigative stories in the U.S. on any topic, in all forms of media, including print, broadcast and online news stories, books, podcasts and documentary films. The Fund provides seed grants of up to $2,500 for the expenses of preliminary reporting, full grants of up to $10,000 for the expenses of investigative stories, and follow-up grant of up to $2,500 after initial investigations run. The Fund also provides Alicia Patterson Fellowships of $20,000 for six months and $40,000 for a year.
Grantees can also request pro bono legal help with records requests and pre-publication review through the Fund’s partnership with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, as well as editorial support through the Fund’s program matching grantees with veteran investigative journalists.
Following are the new grants announced today. They include seed grants, full grants, and follow-up grants. The Fund does not disclose the subject of its grantees’ reporting until their stories are published.
- Rosalind Adams, investigative journalist based in New York
- Ted Alcorn, independent reporter
- Clare Amari, freelance investigative journalist based in Houston
- Philippe Auclair, Jack Kerr, Samindra Kunti and Steve Menary, a team of freelance investigative journalists based in Europe and Australia
- Lucy Baptiste, freelance journalist and visual storyteller in New York and Chicago
- Anna Baydakova, freelance technology journalist based in New York
- Andrew Becker, freelance investigative journalist based in Utah
- Alessandra Bergamin, freelance investigative journalist covering environmental violence and human rights
- Miriam Berger, journalist and author
- Candice Bernd, special investigative correspondent covering climate at the Texas Observer
- Max Blaisdell, investigative reporter for South Side Weekly
- Briana Blueitt, multimedia journalist rooted in Southeast Texas
- Boomtown, a community news organization in Los Alamos, New Mexico
- Curtis Brodner, Brooklyn-based freelance investigative journalist
- The Bucks County Beacon, an independent media outlet, and Technical.ly, a national news organization covering technology and innovation
- Eli Cahan, contributing investigative journalist at ProPublica and Rolling Stone, and physician based in California
- Karen Juanita Carrillo, journalist documenting the history and politics of the African diaspora across the Americas
- Sandra Chapman, investigative journalist/documentarian based in Indiana
- S.C. Cornell, freelance writer based in Mexico City
- Liset Cruz, investigative freelance journalist
- Eryn Davis, Larkin Smith and Amanda Purcell, New York-based investigative reporters
- Phi Do, independent investigative journalist
- R.G. Dunlop, freelance investigative journalist based in Louisville, Kentucky
- Marissa Evans, founder and editor-in-chief of Chisholm Free Press, a national nonprofit newsroom producing accountability-driven reporting on the forces shaping American life
- Feet in 2 Worlds, a nonprofit newsroom and training organization covering immigrant communities in the U.S.
- Callum Foote, investigative business journalist based in New York
- Lindsay Gellman, freelance investigative journalist based in New York
- Carl David Goette-Luciak, investigative reporter
- Piper Guinn, environmental reporter based in Austin, Texas
- The Hendersonian, a news site and newspaper published by the nonprofit news organization West Kentucky Public Service Journalism Inc.
- Her Agenda, an independent digital media platform serving ambitious women
- InvestigateWest, a nonprofit investigative newsroom serving Washington, Oregon and Idaho
- Kelly Kimball, independent global affairs journalist and photographer, and Matthew Kendrick, U.S. and foreign affairs reporter
- Lucy Komisar, freelance investigative journalist based in New York
- Chris Kromm, publisher and reporter for Facing South, an online magazine published by the Institute for Southern Studies
- LAist, an independent, nonprofit newsroom
- J.J. Lansing, freelance reporter, and 48hills.org, SF’s progressive digital daily newspaper
- LatidoBeat, a collaboration of leading Spanish-language local news organizations
- The Latino Newsletter, a nonprofit news organization covering communities in Puerto Rico and the U.S.
- Petal-Ann M. Largie, producer and journalist
- Julieta Martinelli, investigative journalist at Futuro Media
- Amy Martyn, freelance journalist in California
- Shannon McGarvey, investigative audio journalist based in Austin, Texas
- Jess McHugh, Paris-based journalist and author
- Lourdes Medrano, freelance journalist based in Southern Arizona
- Matthew Mitchell, freelance investigative journalist based in San Francisco
- NC Local, nonprofit news organization covering statewide issues in North Carolina
- NotiVisión Georgia, a Spanish-language community news outlet
- Oklahoma Watch, a nonprofit investigative news organization covering critical challenges covering the state of Oklahoma
- Jacob Orledge, enterprise reporter for the North Dakota Monitor
- Kent Paterson, author, radio producer and journalist based in New Mexico
- Sonia Paul, independent investigative journalist, writer and producer
- Caitlin Philippo, freelance investigative journalist based in Savannah, Georgia
- Yessica Prado, investigative researcher for El Tecolote, based in San Francisco
- RANGE Media, a worker-owned news outlet in Spokane, Washington
- Cam Rodriguez, journalist based in Chicago
- Cassie Sagness, documentary filmmaker based in Ohio
- Jesse Scaccia, researcher and journalism professor in California
- Gabb Schivone and Caroline Tracey, an investigative reporting team based in Southern Arizona
- Emma Schneck, freelance journalist and photographer covering climate and the environment
- Ruby Schwartz, journalist and audio producer
- The Shoestring, an independent news publication in western Massachusetts
- TecopaCabana.com, California desert local news
- Jimmy Tobias, freelance environmental reporter
- Stefano Valentino, investigative journalist
- What’s Up Worcester, a Black-founded nonprofit news outlet in Massachusetts
- Wild Narrative Project, a nonprofit newsroom investigating public lands policy
- Janet Wilson, independent journalist based in inland southern California
- Xinyan Yu and Christina Avalos, documentary filmmakers based in Washington, DC, and New York
- Jocelyn C. Zuckerman, freelance journalist based in Brooklyn
The Fund’s Board of Directors, all accomplished journalists, reviews grant proposals and votes on which to approve. A group of Board and Advisory Board members reviewed seed grant proposals and made recommendations to the full Board, which voted on them. That review group included Ellen Weiss, Dianna Hunt, Sarah Cohen, Ricardo Sandoval-Palos, Peggy Engel and James Grimaldi.
The next deadline to apply for grants is Monday, April 27. Details and a new video on how to craft a strong proposal are on the Fund’s website.
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