AddThis SmartLayers

Journalists win share of £8,500 fund to pursue local investigations

Megan LuceroJournalists who received thousands of pounds of funding to pursue investigations of importance to their patch are due to publish their stories this month.

HTFP reported in February how The Bureau Local had created a new fund allowing reporters to receive grants of between £1,000 and £5,000 to investigate an untold or underreported issue.

The Bureau has now revealed the journalists it will be working with on the first round of funding, and is now accepting applications for a second round of funding.

Among them is former Nottingham Post deputy news editor Jane Haynes, now a freelance covering Kidderminster and Birmingham. and running hyperlocal platform Wyre Life.

Freelances Emily Goddard and Alex Sturrock, who cover Milton Keynes, and Natalie Bloomer and Samir Jerar, who cover Northampton, have also received a share of the £8,500 pot.

In a piece about the funding, Bureau Local director Megan Lucero, pictured, wrote: “We selected three stories based on their local and national significance and handed out £8,500 in total. All are due to be published in June.

“One of the stories is about unpaid work and internships, based on a one-day snapshot of data from job websites. The other two projects are on homelessness, looking at the provision of homeless shelters and the rising problem of youth homelessness.

“All our stories will have a reporting recipe – a guide to how the story was researched and conducted, so that other journalists can follow or replicate the methodology.”

The Bureau Local is run by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, with the funding coming about thanks to a partnership with the Open Society Foundations.

Fresh applications are now being welcomed from the Bureau Local’s 700-strong network of reporters for grants of between £1,000 and £5,000.

The grants will be given directly to individuals, not organisations, but staff reporters can apply for funding for a data journalist or freelance to help them work on a story.

Applications for the second round are due by midnight on Sunday 1 July, with successful applicants being notified by Wednesday 11 July.

For more information, click here.