Although newspaper circulation has dropped substantially, concerned citizens are still looking for solid investigative reporting and transparency on issues that affect their daily lives and their local governments.
However, these days they are typically hunting for this information online.
To that end, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is awarding $15 million in grant money to programs developing new models for investigative reporting on digital platforms.
Eric Newton, the Knight Foundation’s vice president for journalism says that investigative journalism is critical to keeping citizens informed and grants from this program will foster an information sharing environment.
“Communities are harmed by what they do not know. A community can’t clean up a toxic dump, or remove a corrupt official or right any other wrong if its citizens do not know about it,” he said.
“We’re awash in information, yet it seems to be getting harder to find good investigative reporting,” added Newton.
The grant money will be funneled toward some new projects, some ongoing initiatives and some yet-to-be-named models.
One of the new grants is $1.32 million being awarded to the Center for Investigative Reporting. The grant money will be used to launch a new multimedia investigative reporting program in California.
“We will not only expose issues but inform the public. Our collaborative model will be part of the solution for the crisis facing journalism today,” said Robert Rosenthal, the center’s executive director, about intentions for the program to encourage print, digital and student journalists to join forces on reporting.
One program already under way thanks to grant money from the Knight Foundation is a regional, university-based investigative reporting unit out of Boston University.
