Fund strongly encourages applications from journalists of color, ethnic media and local media.

WASHINGTON, DC, June 11, 2020 – The Fund for Investigative Journalism today announced that it is offering immediate emergency grants for U.S.-based journalists working on investigative stories related to police misconduct.

The emergency grants are available for investigative journalism projects that break new ground and expose wrongdoing – such as corruption, malfeasance or misuse of power – in the public or private sectors related to police misconduct. The Fund for Investigative Journalism said it strongly encourages applications from journalists of color, ethnic media, and local media.

Journalists can apply for grants of up to $10,000. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and grant decisions will be made and communicated in less than two weeks from the time an application is received.

For more information, see the grant application.

“Strong investigative journalism has always played a critical role in exposing police misconduct, and our emergency grants will help more journalists dig deep into these important stories. Legislation is moving forward in many states to expand public access to records involving police misconduct, opening new opportunities for investigative journalists if they have the resources to pursue them,” said Eric Ferrero, Executive Director of the Fund for Investigative Journalism.

Through the Fund for Investigative Journalism’s partnerships with the Scripps Howard Foundation and individual journalists, reporters who receive grants will have access to highly skilled mentors. Reporters who receive grants will also have access to legal assistance pre-publication through the Fund for Investigative Journalism’s partnership with the Reporter’s Committee for Freedom of the Press.

The Fund for Investigative Journalism was founded in 1969, when its first major grant helped freelancer Seymour Hersh investigate a tip about a U.S. massacre of civilians in the Vietnamese village of My Lai. His subsequent reporting won a Pulitzer Prize and marked a turning point in opposition to the Vietnam War. Today, the Fund for Investigative Journalism is the nation’s leading nonprofit organization supporting independent investigative journalists whose work is published in established media outlets. Stories supported by the Fund have won multiple Pulitzer Prizes and nearly every major award in journalism – and have sparked reforms at the federal, state and local levels on a range of issues, including police misconduct.

The Fund for Investigative Journalism’s Board of Directors, a group of highly accomplished journalists and news managers, makes grant decisions.

In late March, the Fund for Investigative Journalism began offering emergency rolling grants for coverage related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Those rolling grants are still available. For more information, see the grant application.