The Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) is a non-profit consortium of nonprofit journalism organizations. The organization promotes nonprofit investigative and public service journalism . INN facilitates collaborations between member organizations, provides training in best-practices and fundraising, and provides back-office services.
61-740: INN was founded as the Investigative News Network in 2009 at a summer conference held at the Pocantico Center in New York with journalists from the Center for Public Integrity and the Center for Investigative Reporting , among other newer organizations. The result of that conference was the Pocantico Declaration with the intent to share resources and collaborate on projects. Two papers in 2010 described
122-843: A WordPress theme and CMS platform for news websites based on NPR 's Project Argo that is used by member organizations in New Orleans, Connecticut, Maine, Iowa, Oklahoma and elsewhere. In 2013, INN's CEO Kevin Davis consulted on a nonprofit media working group for the Council on Foundations to produce a report titled "The IRS and Nonprofit Media." The report urges the IRS to update its approach to granting charity status to non-profit journalism organizations. In 2013, INN member I-News merged with Rocky Mountain PBS and Denver-based NPR affiliate KUVO in what
183-487: A 2017 CPI analysis, "Outreach Calling, raised more than $ 118 million on behalf of about two dozen charities from 2011 to 2015", retaining $ 106 million. This left c. 10.3 percent or $ 12.2 million, for the non-profit charities and those they serve - homeless veterans, breast cancer survivors, disabled police officers, and children with leukemia. In the United States, it is legal for for-profit telemarketers to keep 90% of
244-704: A 501(c)3 non-profit education organization, INN provides coordination, training, support services and financial sponsorship to its membership. It has published educational resources and training materials, including a whitepaper, "Audience Development and Distribution Strategies", In 2011, INN joined the Thomson Reuters media platform. In 2011, INN also launched the INNovation fund with the Knight Foundation to support experimentalism in nonprofit journalism. In 2012, INN developed "Project Largo",
305-473: A newspaper or magazine done this?" More than 100 newspapers, magazines, wire services and websites cited CPI's report, The Climate Change Lobby Explosion , an analysis of Senate records showing that the number of climate lobbyists had grown by three hundred percent, numbering four for every Senator. Tobacco Underground , an ongoing project tracing the global trade in smuggled cigarettes, produced by CPI's International Consortium of Investigative Journalists,
366-411: A piece arguing that due to a statistically insignificant correlation coefficient between campaign donations and winning contracts, "CPI has no evidence to support its allegations." CPI's LobbyWatch series of reports started with its first reports in 2005. In their January 2005 publication entitled Pushing Prescriptions , CPI revealed that major pharmaceutical companies were the number one lobbyist in
427-418: A progressive media watchdog, has described CPI as " progressive ." CPI's first report, America's Frontline Trade Officials , reported that nearly half of White House trade officials studied over a fifteen-year period became lobbyists for countries or overseas corporations after retirement. According to Lewis, it "prompted a Justice Department ruling, a General Accounting Office report, a Congressional hearing,
488-429: A series of articles including " Toxic clout: how Washington works (badly)" and "How industry scientists stalled action on carcinogen ." In 2013, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released the results of a 15-month-long investigation based on 260 gigabytes of data regarding the ownership of secret offshore bank accounts. The data was obtained by Gerard Ryle as a result of his investigation into
549-759: A staff of 40 full-time Washington-based reporters who partnered with a network of writers and editors in more than 25 countries. Years later, Lewis said he decided to leave his position at CPI because "he didn't want it to become 'an institution that was Chuck's Excellent Adventure". Lewis' departure surprised and upset philanthropists Herb and Marion Sandler, who had partially funded the CPI's activities. In December 2004, CPI's board of directors chose television journalist Roberta Baskin as Lewis's successor. Baskin came to CPI after directing consumer investigations for ABC News's 20/20 and serving as Washington correspondent for PBS's NOW with Bill Moyers . Lewis wrote that "most of
610-480: A trend in news media where watchdog journalism was being done increasingly outside of mainstream newsrooms. INN was granted 501(c)(3) nonprofit status by the IRS in March 2012, 19 months after applying. In November 2014, the board of INN met to conduct a strategic review of the organization. During that meeting the board decided to refine the organization's and to change its name from "Investigative News Network" to
671-629: A way of underlying the "ultimate purpose of investigative journalism" which is "to hold those in power accountable and to inform the public about significant distortions of the truth." In their tenth anniversary Annual Report Piller described their first meetings in their "Boardroom—the cheap seats at the Baltimore Orioles game. In May 1990, Lewis used the money he had raised and his house as collateral to open an 1,800-square-foot (170 m ) office in Washington, D.C. In its first year,
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#1732786764111732-502: Is possible for the judges to decide that none of the entries in a given category merit an award, in which case none will be offered. Starting in 2015 with the addition of student awards, there were nine divisions of National Edward R. Murrow Award winners. There are two divisions of local radio, local television, and online organizations based on the size of the media market they serve. These media market sizes are determined by Nielsen for radio and television. The RTDNA website lists
793-494: The New York Times , this has created a situation of financial peril that "threatens to extinguish a newsroom of about 30 journalists that has watchdogged powerful institutions for decades." In March 2024, CPI laid off 11 newsroom employees. CPI's donors are listed on its website for the most recent two years. CPI ceased accepting contributions from corporations and labor unions in 1996. In its first year, CPI's budget
854-642: The PBS NewsHour , "unmasked the deep, sometimes hidden, connections entangling the chemical industry , scientists and regulators, revealing the industry's sway and the public's peril." Investigative journalists examined the work of the then California Department of Public Health 's John Morgan who had been working since 1995, to debunk allegations that chromium had contributed to the cancer cluster attributed to Hinkley groundwater contamination . The CPI found glaring weaknesses in Morgan's analysis that challenge
915-733: The "Institute for Nonprofit News ". In March 2015, the board voted to terminate the organization's first CEO, Kevin Davis, and appoint data reporter Denise Malan as the interim CEO while a search was conducted to find a permanent replacement. In September 2015, Sue Cross, formerly a consultant and before that a long-time employee of AP was hired as the new Executive Director and CEO. As of November 2024, INN has 475 members, up from 189 in March 2019 and 60 in 2011. In 2023, 48% of newsrooms that applied to become members were accepted, with others not meeting membership standards like editorial independence, quality of journalism and transparency around who funds their work. Most outlets, as of 2023, were focused at
976-603: The Firepower scandal . The ICIJ partnered with the Guardian , BBC , Le Monde , The Washington Post , SonntagsZeitung , Süddeutsche Zeitung and NDR to produce an investigative series on offshore banking . ICIJ and partnering agencies used the ownership information to report on government corruption across the globe, tax avoidance schemes used by wealthy people, the use of secret offshore accounts in Ponzi schemes ,
1037-482: The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists ( ICIJ ). This international network, based in Washington, D.C. , includes over 200 investigative reporters in over 90 countries and territories. Gerard Ryle is the director of ICIJ. Its website publishes The Global Muckraker . ICIJ is focused on issues such as "cross-border crime, corruption, and the accountability of power". In 2013,
1098-406: The Knight Foundation , CPI launched iWatchnews.org as its main investigative reporting website. In August 2012, CPI stopped using iWatchnews.org and returned to its original domain. Buzenberg stepped down from CPI at the end of 2014, at which time Peter Bale was named CEO. In November 2016, Bale resigned from the center to "pursue other international media opportunities" and John Dunbar assumed
1159-801: The Omidyar Network , the Open Society Foundations , and the Pew Charitable Trusts . The Barbra Streisand Foundation reports that it has funded CPI. In July 2014, the Laura and John Arnold Foundation donated $ 2.8 million to CPI to launch a new project focused on state campaign finance. According to the International Business Times , "as CPI was negotiating the Arnold grant, Arnold's name
1220-826: The Society of Professional Journalists . The report was an examination of the connection between overnight stays in the Lincoln Bedroom during the Clinton presidency and financial contributions to the Democratic Party as well as the Clinton re-election campaign. In 2003, CPI published Windfalls of War , a report arguing that campaign contributions to George W. Bush affected the allocation of reconstruction contracts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Slate ran
1281-569: The 2015 Center for American Homeless Veterans' tax returns, "it provided just $ 200 in grants to other organizations out of $ 2.5 million in overall expenditures, the vast majority of which paid telemarketers." This report confirms findings from the investigation by the Saint Louis, Missouri Better Business Bureau (BBB) and CharityWatch . The BBB had advised "consumers to exercise caution when deciding whether to contribute money" to Hampton's non-profit. BBB also found that "[c]ontracts between
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#17327867641111342-549: The CPI's budget was $ 200,000. In 1996, CPI launched its first website, although CPI did not begin to publish reports online until 1999. In August 2000 the CPI published a story entitled "Cheney Led Halliburton to Feast at Federal Trough: State Department Questioned Deal With Firm Linked to Russian Mob", in which the authors argued that while Dick Cheney was CEO of Halliburton —from 1995 to 2000—the company received "$ 3.8 billion in federal contracts and taxpayer-insured loans". In 2001, Global Integrity , an international project,
1403-448: The CPI, and eight Huffington Post journalists moved to CPI. In 2011, CPI eliminated 10 staff positions in order to compensate for a $ 2 million budget shortfall. Buzenberg and other senior staffers also took salary cuts. CPI board chairman Bruce Finzen said the budget would be "reduced between $ 2 million and $ 3 million, more like $ 2.5 million. The budget for next year will be in the 6 to 7 million range." In April 2011, with support from
1464-525: The Center for American Homeless Veterans and "its two main fundraisers" – Reno, Nevada -based Outreach Calling and Phoenix, Arizona -based Midwest Publishing – revealed that "just 10 percent of all donations" go to the Center for American Homeless Veterans. The BBB investigation also revealed that from September 2014 to September 2016, Outreach Calling and Midwest Publishing "collected nearly $ 5 million, with about $ 508,000 going to
1525-414: The Center's carefully assembled, very talented, senior staff had quit by the fall of 2005". In September 2005, CPI announced that it had discovered a pattern of plagiarism in the past work of a staff writer for CPI's 2002 book Capitol Offenders . CPI responded by hiring a copy editor to review all work, issuing a revised version of Capitol Offenders , sending letters of apology to all reporters whose work
1586-466: The Decline of America's Moral Integrity Lewis recounted how he recruited two trusted journalists, Alejandro Benes and Charles Piller —whom he had met through his television work— to serve on the board of directors of the nascent CPI. All three had grown dissatisfied with what was being done in the name of investigative journalism by established news organizations. They chose the name public integrity as
1647-492: The February 8, 2016 article "Meet the 'rented white coats' who defend toxic chemicals", the February 10, 2016 article "Making a cancer cluster disappear", the February 16, 2016 article "Ford spent $ 40 million to reshape asbestos science", the February 18, 2016 article "Brokers of junk science ?", and the March 31, 2016 article "Senators seek better conflict disclosures for scientific articles." In this investigative series which
1708-610: The ICIJ made headlines worldwide with the announcement that it and the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung had received a leaked set of 11.5 million confidential documents from a secret source, created by the Panamanian corporate service provider Mossack Fonseca . The Panama Papers provided detailed information on more than 214,000 offshore companies, including the identities of shareholders and directors. The documents named
1769-631: The Institute for Nonprofit News secured press credentials for all of its 475 member organizations in a partnership with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press . Center for Public Integrity The Center for Public Integrity ( CPI ) is an American nonprofit investigative journalism organization whose stated mission is "to counter the corrosive effects of inequality by holding powerful interests accountable and equipping
1830-506: The Panama Papers in 2015 and distributed them to about 400 journalists at 107 media organizations in more than 80 countries. The first news reports based on the set, along with 149 of the documents themselves, were published on April 3, 2016. Among other planned disclosures, the full list of companies is to be released in early May 2016. In November 2017, ICIJ launched a coordinated worldwide release of investigative reports based on
1891-632: The Paradise Papers, documents leaked to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on offshore tax havens – tax "paradises" – from offshore law firm Appleby . A 2012 The New York Times editorial described the CPI as a "nonpartisan watchdog group". In relation to a story in February 1996, CPI was characterized as a "liberal group" by the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times . Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting ,
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1952-541: The RTDNA website. In 2015, the RTDNA added a student division to the Murrow Awards. Student Awards are awarded to the individuals or team of individuals that produce them, unlike the professional Murrow Awards, which are presented to a news organization. The categories for student awards are: In the reporting categories, entries should consist of a single piece, package or series. Newscast entries should consist of
2013-634: The Radio-Television News Directors Association) has been honoring outstanding achievements in electronic journalism with the Edward R. Murrow Awards since 1971. The Murrow Awards recognize local and national news stories that uphold the RTDNA Code of Ethics, demonstrate technical expertise and exemplify the importance and impact of journalism as a service to the community. Murrow Award winning work demonstrates
2074-592: The UK also participated. that won the Overseas Press Club Award and Investigative Reporters and Editors 's Tom Renner Award for crime reporting. In 2010, CPI partnered with National Public Radio to publish "Sexual Assault on Campus", a report which showcases the failures of colleges and government agencies to prevent sexual assaults and resolve sexual assault cases. The year long investigation by CPI, Toxic Clout , produced in partnership with
2135-565: The United States spending $ 675 million over seven years on lobbying. They continued with this series in 2005 revealing how pharmaceutical companies had contacts even within the Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Trade Representatives. CPI's report, Who's Behind the Financial Meltdown? , looking at the roots of the global financial crisis, was featured in numerous media outlets, leading Columbia Journalism Review to ask, "Why hasn't
2196-490: The [Center for American Homeless Veterans] and "almost all the money retained" by the center, "went to pay salaries, legal fees and office-related expenses." According to New York state regulators, "a wealthy 49-year-old New Jersey businessman", Mark Gelvan (b.1978), is the "driving force behind Outreach Calling." Outreach Calling collects money for "homeless veterans," "breast cancer survivors", "disabled police officers", and "children with leukemia", among others. According to
2257-437: The active role of major banks in facilitating secrecy for their clients, and the strategies and actors that make these activities possible. In early 2014 the ICIJ revealed as part of their "Offshore Leaks" that relatives of China's political and financial elite were among those using offshore tax havens to store wealth. The 2016 series entitled Science for Sale included, the February 8, 2016 article "About Science for Sale",
2318-482: The center in great shape financially, but when you have a visionary who leaves, how do you continue? 'With difficulty' is the answer." Baskin publicly disputed Buzenberg's claims in a letter to the American Journalism Review where she wrote, "contrary to the statement from current Executive Director Bill Buzenberg, the center was not left 'in great shape financially' by my predecessor. Much of
2379-462: The condition of the Center. It's no secret it had a less than enviable few years. But that's one of the reasons I thought it was important to leave. I had founded it and run it for 15 years, and at some point the founder does have to leave the building...I don't regret it, I think it was important that I left, but I do feel badly about the hardship it brought to people I think the world of." In 2010, The Huffington Post Investigative Fund merged into
2440-553: The consortium reported having 160 member journalists from 60 countries. The ICIJ brings together teams of international journalists for different investigations (over 80 for Offshore leaks ). It organized the bi-annual Daniel Pearl Awards for Outstanding International Investigative Reporting . ICIJ staff members include Michael Hudson , while the Advisory Committee in 2013 included Bill Kovach , Phillip Knightley , Gwen Lister , and Goenawan Mohamad . In April 2016,
2501-405: The donations they solicit as long as they to not "mislead prospective donors" or "lie to them about how their contributions will be used", according to Jim Sheehan , "head of the charities bureau for the office of New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman ." Edward R. Murrow Award (Radio Television Digital News Association) The Radio Television Digital News Association (formerly
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2562-572: The excellence that Edward R. Murrow made a standard for the broadcast news profession. Submissions are judged by a panel of professional journalists. Entries from individual stations are judged regionally. The winners from each region are given a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award and entered into judging for the national awards. National award winners are recognized each October at the RTDNA Edward R. Murrow Awards Gala in New York City. It
2623-708: The following categories for the Edward R. Murrow Awards. The Edward R. Murrow Awards are presented to media organizations as a whole rather than to individual journalists. However, many categories are for single news reports done by individual journalists. Some of the prominent journalists responsible for stories that won Edward R. Murrow awards include Katie Couric , Diane Sawyer , Dan Rather , Tom Brokaw , Peter Jennings , Ted Koppel , Holly Williams , Keith Olbermann , Bryant Gumbel , Brian Williams , Michael Moss , Serena Altschul , Richard Engel , and Jeremy Young . Full lists of winners and organizations can be found on
2684-696: The funds collected. According to the December 12, 2017 article, Brian Arthur Hampton co-founded two Falls Church, Virginia -based non-profit organizations: the Circle of Friends for American Veterans (COFAV)—also known as "American Homeless Veterans"—in 1993 and then the Center for American Homeless Veterans—also known as the "Association for Homeless and Disabled Veterans". During the 2000s, Hampton said he had "hosted more than 100 members of Congress across 196 veterans shelter-themed forums in 46 cities" in rallies for these non-profits. Kleiner revealed that according to
2745-560: The leaders of five countries — Argentina, Iceland, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates — as well as government officials, close relatives and close associates of various heads of government of more than 40 other countries, including Brazil, China, France, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Malta, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Syria and the United Kingdom. The ICIJ and Süddeutsche Zeitung received
2806-455: The money raised during the year prior to my tenure was used to offset budget overruns on several previous projects. I replaced our director of development and made fundraising my number one priority, much as Buzenberg has done. As a rookie fundraiser, I take pride in the fact that I was able to raise millions of dollars." In 2008, Lewis reflected on the transition period following his resignation and said, "I regret what happened to my staff and
2867-478: The organization until May 24, 2006. Baskin was followed by Wendell Rawls Jr., who was named the center's interim executive director. Rawls had previously worked as the center's managing director — being named to that post by Baskin on December 19, 2005. He joined CPI in August 2005. In 2007, Rawls was succeeded by William Buzenberg , a vice president at American Public Media / Minnesota Public Radio . Buzenberg
2928-419: The public trust by powerful interests". CPI was founded on March 30, 1989, by Charles Lewis , a former producer for ABC News and CBS News 60 Minutes . By the late 1980s Lewis observed that fewer resources—time, money and space—were being invested in investigative reporting in the United States by established news outlets and major publications. In his book entitled 935 Lies: The Future of Truth and
2989-421: The public with knowledge to drive change." It won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting , and in 2023, the Edward R. Murrow Award for General Excellence . The CPI has been described as an independent watchdog group. The Center releases its reports via its website. The mission of the center is "to protect democracy and inspire change using investigative reporting that exposes betrayals of
3050-438: The role of chief executive officer. In 2019, Susan Smith Richardson was named chief executive officer, becoming the first African-American CEO in the center's history. In February 2024, CEO Paul Cheung resigned. The board also acted to eliminate the position of editor-in-chief, a post that had been held by Matt DeRienzo. CPI had a revenue goal of $ 6 million for 2023, and fell about $ 2.5 million short of that. According to
3111-489: The state and local level. A growing number of outlets also reported having volunteers play a significant role. As of February 2024, the median member had 4 staffers and $ 271,000 in revenue. As of 2024, the network reported having 80 INN-member newsrooms across 47 states. In 2021, The Associated Press reported on how INN was helping to form The Rural News Network, a collaboration that started with 60 rural nonprofit news organizations before it reported growing to 70 in 2022. As
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#17327867641113172-462: The validity of his findings. "In his first study, he dismisses what others see as a genuine cancer cluster in Hinkley. In his latest analysis, he excludes people who were exposed to the worst contamination ." PBS Newshour broadcast the series which included "EPA Contaminated by Conflict of Interest", "Ouster of Scientist from EPA Panel Shows Industry Clout", starting in early 2013. CPI published
3233-488: Was a first of its kind merger between public broadcasters and INN members. Since 2016, INN has partnered with NewsMatch, an initiative supported by several national foundations that match donations from individuals to nonprofit news organizations. In 2021, The New York Times highlighted how communities where local newspapers were shuttering followed INN's playbook for how to start a nonprofit news organization, which it found were becoming more prevalent. In November 2024,
3294-793: Was absent from a CPI report on pension politics". Arnold has spent at least $ 10 million on a campaign to roll back pension benefits for public workers. As of March 2024, CPI's board of directors includes co-chairs James A. Kiernan and Wesley Lowery, and members Richard Lobo, George Alvarez-Correa, Bruce Finzen, Jamaal Glenn, Olivier Kamanda, Jennifer 8. Lee , Gilbert Omenn, Sue Suh, Daniel Suleiman and Andres Torres. Former board members include Elspeth Revere, Bill Kovach, Ninan Chacko, Arianna Huffington , Craig Newmark , Dan Emmett, Matthew Granade, Steve Kroft , Hendrik-Jan Laseur, Susan Loewenberg, Bevis Longsteth, Olivia Ma, Scott Siegler, Marianne Szegedy-Maszak, Christiane Amanpour , Sheila Coronel , and Molly Bingham , and Matt Thompson. In 1997, CPI launched
3355-529: Was cited by four presidential candidates in 1992 and was partly responsible for an executive order in January 1993 by President Clinton, placing a lifetime ban on foreign lobbying by White House trade officials." In 1996, CPI released a report called Fat Cat Hotel: How Democratic High-Rollers Are Rewarded with Overnight Stays at the White House . This report, written by Margaret Ebrahim, won an award from
3416-574: Was co-published with Vice, journalist revealed how research backed by industry has opened debates on asbestos and arsenic with some of the paid scientists saying that "there are 'safe' levels of asbestos despite statements to the contrary from the World Health Organization and many other august bodies". In December 2017, CPI journalist Sarah Kleiner published a report on professional fundraisers who use telemarketing to collect donations for US military veterans, then keep 90 percent of
3477-458: Was first interviewed for the position in 2004 during the hiring process that ultimately led to the selection of his predecessor, Roberta Baskin. According to a report by Lewis, "the number of full-time staff was reduced by one-third" in early 2007. By December 2007, the number of full-time staff had dropped to 25, down from a high of 40. At the time, Buzenberg said "It's a great, great place, but I will not mislead you... [Lewis] quite frankly left
3538-857: Was honored with the Renner Award for Crime Reporting from Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), and the Overseas Press Club Award for Best Online International Reporting. The Tobacco Underground Project was funded by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health. It is a cooperative project between the Center for Public Integrity's International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) with journalists in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Russia and Ukraine. Journalists in Brazil, Belgium, Canada, China, Italy, Paraguay and
3599-496: Was launched to systematically track and report on openness, accountability and the rule of law in various countries. It has since been incorporated independently. In 2004, CPI's The Buying of the President book was on The New York Times Best Seller list for three months. Lewis served as CPI's director until January 2005. As of his departure, CPI had published 14 books and more than 250 investigative reports. In 2005, CPI had
3660-511: Was plagiarized, authoring a new corrections policy, and returning an award the book received from Investigative Reporters and Editors . He went on to work for a political consulting firm that specializes in opposition research . In March 2007, he told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that the center's official version "is not accurate in telling the full story of why I left the center," but did not elaborate. Baskin led
3721-750: Was reported to be $ 200,000. In 2010, CPI had $ 9.2 million in revenue and $ 7.7 million in expenses. By 2022, annual revenues had declined to $ 5 million. CPI reports receiving foundation support from a number of foundations, including the Sunlight Foundation , the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation , the Ford Foundation , the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation , the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation ,
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