Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation Announces $1.24 Million in Awards

OKLAHOMA CITY — Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation (EEJF) announced today the distribution of $1.24 million in grants to 19 journalism organizations nationwide.

Founded by Edith Kinney Gaylord, Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation’s mission is to invest in the future of journalism by building the ethics, skills and opportunities needed to advance principled, probing news and information.

“Our grantees provide essential investigative coverage at the local, state, and national level,” said Bob Ross, President and CEO of Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation. “The ability to dig deep into topics and go beyond the daily news cycle allows these organizations to be impactful.”

The following grants were awarded to organizations for projects addressing the foundation’s core areas of focus:

Investigative Reporting

• $100,000 to Center for Investigative Reporting for Reveal radio show and podcast, supporting co-productions and collaborations with other news organizations.
• $100,000 to WHYY for Keystone Crossroads, a collaborative multimedia journalism project among seven public media stations in Pennsylvania.
• $75,000 to Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting to expand original and collaborative reporting and create earned revenue opportunities by curating public data with technology.
• $75,000 to PublicSource to become a convener of important conversations, build a more solid business foundation and foster the growth of new audiences.
• $50,000 to Alabama Initiative for Independent Journalism for Birmingham Watch, expanding coverage of state and local government and issues of social justice, building audience, marketing and fundraising.
• $50,000 to Connecticut Health I-Team for data research, analysis, writing and production of in-depth high-impact health and safety news.
• $50,000 to GroundTruth Project for Crossing the Divide, a 12-week reporting journey across the country with a multidisciplinary team of five recent college journalism graduates.
• $50,000 to Honolulu Civil Beat to establish and share best practices on how resource-constrained newsrooms can develop sustainable and mission-driven podcasting initiatives.
• $50,000 to Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting to fund reporting staff, freelance journalists and a development and marketing coordinator.
• $50,000 to Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting for continued development of a database library business model.
• $50,000 to Texas Tribune for collaboration with the Center for Investigative Reporting on Reveal, part of an effort to increase impact through expanded investigative reporting.

Oklahoma Journalism

• $50,430 to Oklahoma Newspaper Foundation for salaries of college journalism students working summer internships at community newspapers.

Professional Development

• $100,000 to Institute for Nonprofit News to build business performance among nonprofit news leaders.
• $85,000 to Carole Kneeland Project for New Media Leadership Forums supporting news directors as they seek to improve their team’s decision-making, journalism and community impact.
• $25,000 to Poynter Institute to organize a one-day conference to help small newsrooms and independent nonprofit startups use data to measure audience and make decisions.

Special Opportunities

• $100,000 to WETA for Washington Week to create a new digital platform and format for broadcast with new moderator, Robert Costa.
• $85,000 to Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press for a legal fellowship for media lawyers in the early stages of their careers, working on a range of First Amendment issues.
• $75,000 to National Press Club Journalism Institute for two Kalb Report forums on threats to public trust in the press and the need for ethics and excellence and news literacy to enhance understanding of the press in a democracy.
• $20,000 to American Society of Newspaper Editors Foundation for work on behalf of public’s right to know, press freedoms and defense of the First Amendment.

To learn more about projects funded by Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation visit http://inasmuchfoundation.org/category/eejf/ or call 405-604-5388.