Knight Foundation unveils $15M investigative initiative

Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. The IRE Journal, Summer 2009

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is funding a $15 million initiative to help develop new economic models for investigative reporting on digital platforms.

The grants - some ongoing, some new and some yet-to-be announced -will promote local and national investigative reporting. The foundation announced the initiative during IRE's annual conference in Baltimore in June.

"Communities are harmed by what they do not know," said Eric Newton, Knight Foundation's vice president for journalism, in a news release. "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. We're awash in information, yet it seems to be getting harder to find good investigative reporting."

By looking for projects that emphasize high-impact stories, digital platforms, diverse revenue streams and national leadership, he said the foundation hopes to "help pioneer models that help keep this important journalism flowing."

The three newest grants are:

* Center for Investigative Reporting, $1.32 million: to launch a new multimedia investigative reporting project in California that encourages print, digital and student journalists to collaborate on stories.

* Sunlight Foundation, $565,000: to develop Web tools so the public can easily access information on congressional lawmakers, their campaign contributions and votes.

* ProPublica, $1.01 million: to help the nation's largest new nonprofit investigative reporting organization create a sustainable business model.

Further details are available at www.knightfoundation.org.