Nieman Foundation at Harvard
The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, with funding from the Abrams Foundation, will support up to three fellowships next year for U.S. journalists working in local news, with the aim of improving the health of the local investigative journalism ecosystem in the U.S. (The Abrams Foundation, among its many program areas, has supported recent journalism initiatives such as Frontline’s new longform documentary podcast series.)
“While resources have decreased across the industry, editors in the largest metro areas are still able to make the choices to advance public service investigations, and are more likely to have journalists in their newsrooms with the necessary skills and experience,” Ann Marie Lipinski, curator of the Nieman Foundation, told me ahead of Tuesday’s announcement. “I’ve talked with reporters in smaller markets who, for the lack of a colleague with data reporting skills, for instance, have been unable to decode really important developments in their communities. There are states where there is virtually no reporting on the statehouse. There are communities that have only one source of reporting or, worse, none. We’re hoping to hear from those editors and reporters who have ideas for how we can help them improve that.”
The fellowships are intended to support journalists who work in communities undercovered by existing news organizations and are from smaller newsrooms that don’t have the resources — whether technical skills or money or time — to pursue investigative work. For that reason, Nieman intends to look beyond journalists from established news organizations in the top metro areas of the U.S., such as New York, L.A., or D.C. There’s no restriction on medium: radio journalists, podcast editors, freelancers, daily newspaper reporters, TV reporters are all welcome to apply. Nor is there any lower limit on the size of the applicants’ home newsroom, but applicants’ newsrooms should be willing to support their proposed projects through the fieldwork phase of the fellowship.
“When I was introduced to the Nieman Foundation, I immediately connected with its mission to ‘promote and elevate the standards of journalism’ and looked for ways for the Abrams Foundation to partner with Nieman. Since its inception, the Nieman Foundation has inspired generations of talented reporters and editors through its transformative yearlong fellowship,” Amy Abrams, Abrams Foundation president and Nieman Advisory Board member, said in a statement. “Now, the Abrams Nieman Fellowship is piloting an approach that focuses attention on underserved news markets, providing enhanced educational opportunities for journalists and increased resources for investigative reporting. In finding new ways to support local journalism, the Nieman Foundation demonstrates its gift for evolving while staying true to its vision of journalistic excellence.”
Mismanagement or corruption in local communities that go undercovered have devastating consequences. In 2014, Flint switched the water source for the city to the Flint River, but didn’t treat the water that flowed through old pipes. Flint residents had been searching online for information about the safety of their water before the government became aware of the contamination and before there was any news coverage, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of anonymized Google search terms between January 2014 and July 2016. We now know from recent research that the fetal death rate in Flint, relative to non-affected cities, rose by 58 percent after the water source switch, a figure researchers said was likely an undercount. The proportion of kids in Flint with high lead levels in their blood had roughly doubled.
This is just one prominent example of the many urgent stories the Abrams Nieman Fellowship for Local Investigative Journalism hopes to help newsrooms uncover.
I asked Lipinski a few questions about the thinking behind the new Abrams Nieman fellowships, for examples of work that would be a good fit for this fellowship, and in what ways she hopes the fellowship might help improve the state of local investigative journalism.
I’ve talked to several of these reporters and know what it took to do this work. In addition to time, this kind of journalism often requires training and resources that are not always available in smaller newsrooms. We’ll be looking for proposals that demonstrate an applicant’s commitment to local public service journalism and ideas that will arm communities with information that would otherwise be overlooked or not understood. Harvard University and the Nieman community offer abundant opportunities to acquire knowledge and skills to help our fellows decode the world around them and explain it to others. We’re eager to hear from journalists who would benefit from that education and support.
The sorts of markets and newsrooms we’ll be looking for are those that, without this support, might not be able to do this work. While resources have decreased across the industry, editors in the largest metro areas are still able to make the choices to advance public service investigations, and are more likely to have journalists in their newsrooms with the necessary skills and experience. I’ve talked with reporters in smaller markets who, for the lack of a colleague with data reporting skills, for instance, have been unable to decode really important developments in their communities. There are states where there is virtually no reporting on the statehouse. There are communities that have only one source of reporting or, worse, none. We’re hoping to hear from those editors and reporters who have ideas for how we can help them improve that.
As we worked on developing this fellowship, Amy Abrams wisely and inspirationally kept the focus on our shared belief that researched, fact-based journalism is necessary for the functioning of a democracy. And that doesn’t mean just Washington D.C. We are experiencing a moment in our history where there is justifiable focus on news out of our capital, but a functioning democracy needs watchdogs at every level.
By supporting up to nine months of fieldwork following concentrated work on campus, we are connecting our investment in the individual to the work she will create going forward. During this time, we will continue working with the Abrams Nieman fellows to make sure they have the guidance and tools they need to make the most of this opportunity.
Applications for the 2018-2019 Abrams Nieman Fellowships are open to U.S. journalists until February 15, 2018. For more information on how to apply, visit the Nieman Foundation page.
