Next Steps with the Investigations Fund
Posted by Stephen Grey on February 12th, 2010
BREAKING RADIO SILENCE –
We set up the Investigations Fund initiative last summer in the wake of a crisis in the news business – and to attempt to launch an experiment in not-for-profit journalism in Britain and Ireland, funded in all sorts of innovative ways.
The initiative culminated in a series of meetings of all sorts of investigative journalists, different ideas kicked about, and a flood of offers of help from all quarters, including some very generous financial offers – all of which we have yet to take up (apologies for radio silence) – and support from key people and organisations in the media industry.
Finally, we decided to join forces with a parallel initiative – coming together at the City University in London and funded with a £2m pledge from the David and Elaine Potter Foundation to create something called the Bureau for Investigative Journalism (http://tbij.com/). This is now getting going and its first editor is Iain Overton who joined them from Channel 4. You can email him at: iainoverton@tbij.com
We’ve been a little quiet since then. Although a few of us have been contemplating a slightly different approach, we wanted to give space to allow the BIJ to get its feet under the table and define itself. And we wanted to decide what else we can do to encourage good investigations to get going – and above all to encourage a new generation of reporters, many of whom will be far more familiar with all the tools of new media that may provide promising new techniques for journalism.
To that end, the Investigations Fund will remain, for now at least, a separate initiative – existing primarily as a forum both to highlight and encourage all sorts of investigative work (the kind that sometimes, but not always, struggles to surface in the mainstream media).
We have in mind a series of alternative projects to fund good investigative work – and hope to encourage donations for these.
First we’re going to consult – and seek ideas on the most promising avenue – from all those who’ve offered us support, and most of this discussion will be in the open.
So we intend this website to be an open access forum to discuss investigative reporting and its future. Please do join the debate.
As a few have pointed out, the layout here is somewhat antiquated. We’d welcome offers from anyone who wishes to help with web support!
Meanwhile, if anyone wishes to come and chat with us about next steps or to lend a hand … we’re planning an open meeting next Weds 17th Feb, at the bar at the Royal Festival Hall, South Bank, London, at 1pm.
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June 21st, 2010 at 5:24 pm
I can’t but agree.I always wanted to write in my site something like that but I guess you’r faster.