The McCormick Foundation has given a grant of $75,000 to the Investigative News Network (INN), a consortium of non-profit organizations that produce non-partisan investigative journalism. The grant will support the administrative, legal and technological operations of INN to push the network forward in its ability to develop and sustain stand-alone news organizations striving to provide the highest quality watchdog reporting for society. The Network, which formed last year, is a growing consortium of more than 40 nonprofit news organizations throughout North America that produce investigative and public service journalism on regional, national and international levels.
“We are delighted and grateful that the McCormick Foundation recognizes the need to support non-profit investigative journalism and recognizes the role that INN will play to moving our members toward sustainability,” said Kevin Davis, the CEO of the Network, which is based in Los Angeles.
The Network was formed to promote collaboration among its members, to help provide administrative services to smaller organizations by pooling resources and to offer technological innovations to Network members.
“The primary task for members of the Investigative News Network should be producing good journalism that generates greater government transparency and accountability,” said Clark Bell, the McCormick Foundation’s Journalism Program Director. ”Our grant will help INN members deal with more mundane, yet essential business issues, such as administrative and information technology services.”
The McCormick grant is being administered through the Center for Public Integrity, the Washington, D.C., based nonprofit investigative reporting organization. The Center is a member of INN and serves as its fiscal agent. ”This money is vital to INN and will help the new organization put the structures in place to deliver on its mission,” said Center Executive Director Bill Buzenberg. “We also thank the McCormick Foundation for its foresight and generosity.”
The McCormick Foundation believes there is nothing more critical to the vitality of a democracy than free, vigorous and diverse news media that provide citizens with information they need to make reasoned decisions. The Foundation’s Journalism Program invests in projects that enhance content, build news audiences and protect press freedoms. The McCormick Foundation, which honors the legacy of Robert R. McCormick, is one of the nation’s largest charities, with more than $1 billion in assets.
Brant Houston, chair of the INN board of directors, noted that this is the second $75,000 grant from the McCormick Foundation. “The continued support of the McCormick Foundation is key to the Network carrying out its mission of fostering editorial collaboration among its members, providing practical administrative assistance and cost-savings where possible for them, and developing new revenue streams to make our member organizations sustainable,” Houston said.
About the Investigative News Network
The Investigative News Network aims to pave the way toward sustainability in non-profit newsrooms devoted to investigative and public service journalism in a new media environment. INN is a consortium of non-profit organizations that produce non-partisan investigative journalism. INN’s mission is to develop and sustain stand-alone investigative journalism organizations, strive to provide the highest quality watchdog reporting for society, and to reach the widest audience possible.
About the McCormick Foundation
The McCormick Foundation is committed to strengthening our free, democratic society by investing in children, communities and country. Through its grantmaking programs, Cantigny Park and Golf, museums, and civic outreach programs, the Foundation helps build a more active and engaged citizenry. It was established as a charitable trust in 1955, upon the death of Colonel Robert R. McCormick, the longtime editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune. The McCormick Foundation is one of the nation’s largest charities, with more than $1 billion in assets. For more information visit www.McCormickFoundation.org.