Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation Announces $1.533 Million in Awards

OKLAHOMA CITY — Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation (EEJF) announced today the distribution of $1.533 million in grants to 18 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.

“We are proud to support investigative newsrooms as well as organizations elevating the entire nonprofit news industry” said Bob Ross, President and CEO of Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation.  “Institute for Nonprofit News provides essential leadership and training, while the national NewsMatch campaign grows fundraising capacity and matches individual donations to newsrooms across the country.  These two grants continue our commitment to nonprofit news as it becomes increasingly vital to our media landscape.”

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 to support partnerships with other newsrooms for the Reveal radio show and podcast and the Reveal Local Labs initiative.
• $100,000 to Connecticut Health I-Team for general support of data-driven investigative multimedia stories on health and safety.
• $50,000 to Alabama Initiative for Independent Journalism to provide public service, investigative and explanatory journalism focused on government, education, environment, and economic development.
• $50,000 to Better Government Association to support their Investigative Journalism Unit in covering a wide range of government-related issues in Chicago and Illinois.
• $50,000 to GroundTruth Project for Report for America, a national service-based program deploying talented journalists to serve local news organizations in under-covered corners of the country.
• $50,000 to Injustice Watch in support of efforts to grow audience and raise visibility, including hiring an audience engagement and social media specialist.
• $50,000 to Louisville Public Media for the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting to grow audience, bolster radio and podcast offerings and establish new revenue streams.
• $50,000 to Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting to fund a contributor network that produces investigative/enterprise stories reporting the actions of government and institutions.
• $50,000 to Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting to expand and build its revenue model and deepen audience growth, engagement and support.
• $50,000 to VTDigger.org to create new services and products that draw new audiences and increase sustainable revenues.

Oklahoma Journalism

• $50,000 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 News Director Leadership Forums, supporting news executives as they seek to become more effective leaders with better balanced lives.

Special Opportunities 

• $337,500 to Arizona State University for a Visiting Professor in Investigative Journalism at the Cronkite School; and for News21 fellowships for ASU and University of Oklahoma students.
• $100,000 to Homeless Alliance for the Curbside Chronicle to increase quality and reach of articles about issues of poverty and social welfare in the state of Oklahoma.
• $100,000 to NewsMatch, a national matching-gift campaign to grow fundraising capacity in nonprofit newsrooms and promote giving to journalism.
• $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 accuracy, fairness, ethics, leadership, press freedom and the overall roles and responsibilities of news organizations in a digital age.

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