The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism and MinnPost are receiving a major grant from The Joyce Foundation to support reporting on key issues in their neighboring states.
The $100,000 grant from the Chicago-based foundation, to be split by the two nonprofit news organizations, will fund coverage of political reform, environmental protection and gun violence issues in Wisconsin, as well as political reform in Minnesota.
This marks the first Joyce Foundation funding for either newsroom – and at the Center, the impact is doubled because it fulfills a $50,000 matching grant awarded earlier this year by Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, based in Oklahoma City.
“This generous support from the Joyce and Ethics and Excellence foundations will provide Wisconsin residents with insights into critical issues while we also train the next generation of investigative journalists,” said Andy Hall, founder and executive director of the Center, which is housed in the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Combined with other grants provided to the Center since 2009, Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation now has provided the Center $500,000 in support of its replicable, collaborative model for producing local investigative journalism.
MinnPost is led by co-founder Joel Kramer, who serves as CEO and editor. He is a former publisher and editor of the Star Tribune in Minneapolis.
Hall and Kramer said they were excited about the opportunity to work together.
The two nonpartisan news organizations share a commitment to high-quality journalism, a community asset that sustains democracy and quality of life.
The Center’s professional staff and paid interns work with the journalism school, Wisconsin Public Radio, Wisconsin Public Television and mainstream and ethnic news media to improve the quality and expand the amount of investigative journalism in Wisconsin, with a focus on government integrity and quality of life issues.
MinnPost provides news and analysis based on reporting by professional journalists, most of whom have decades of experience in the Twin Cities media. The site features video as well as written stories, commentary pieces from the community, and comments from readers on individual stories to encourage broad-ranging, civil discussion from many points of view.
The Joyce Foundation supports the development of policies that both improve the quality of life for people in the Great Lakes region and serve as models for the rest of the country. The Joyce Foundation’s grant making supports research into Great Lakes protection and restoration, energy efficiency, teacher quality and early reading, workforce development, gun violence prevention, diverse art for diverse audiences, and a strong, thriving democracy. The Foundation encourages innovative and collaborative approaches with a regional focus and the potential for a national reach.
MinnPost’s coverage of this grant is published here.