Dear Readers,
The Florida Center for Investigative Reporting has a lot to be thankful for this year. In fact, our most important gift this year has been you — our readers.
Since FCIR launched in September, our traffic has grown at a rate of about 80 percent each month. That tells us you want public service journalism about Florida. In turn, we want you and other readers to keep coming back every day — and we especially want and need your support.
FCIR began as a question 18 months ago: Can a foundation- and public-supported nonprofit organization produce investigative journalism in Florida at a time when the state’s traditional news media is shrinking?
We soon discovered the answer is an emphatic yes.
The International Media Center, a nonprofit based at Florida International University in Miami that trains journalists in Latin America, signed on as FCIR’s initial partner, offering office space and resources.
Respected professionals from throughout the state volunteered to join our Board of Directors, including Sharon Rosenhause, retired managing editor of the Sun-Sentinel; Barbara Petersen, president of the First Amendment Foundation; Joe Adams, an editorial writer for the Florida Times-Union and author of the Florida Public Records Handbook; Dr. Stephanie Tripp, a digital media theorist at the University of Tampa; Mercedes Vigón, associate director of the International Media Center; and Sanford L. Bohrer, a partner at Holland & Knight in Miami who has represented the news media before the Florida Supreme Court on four occasions.
And just this month we added Gregg D. Thomas, a lawyer who has defended newspapers and television stations in more than 100 defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, and intellectual property matters; and Matt Waite, the senior news technologist for the St. Petersburg Times and the principal developer of the Pulitzer Prize-winning PolitiFact.
FCIR’s initial funding came from a $100,000 grant from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, an Oklahoma-based nonprofit committed to promoting excellence and ethical standards in journalism nationwide. EEJF has also provided funding to a number of watchdog organizations, including the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism and Colorado’s I-News. In addition, we received smaller project grants from the Fund for Investigative Journalism.
After 18 months of behind-the-scenes work, FCIR has been online for a little more than 90 days and we are proud of what we’ve done:
- In September, we introduced Ralph De La Cruz, an award-winning journalist and columnist as our first reporter/blogger. Born in Cuba and bilingual, De La Cruz has worked as a columnist and reporter at the Sun-Sentinel, Miami Herald and Press-Telegram in Long Beach, Calif. At FCIR, De La Cruz has brought a strong voice and deft style, writing about, for example, trapped miners in Chile and absurdities of Florida’s midterm election.
- Editorial collaboration is a big component of FCIR’s model. In October, we partnered with the Center for Public Integrity on an investigation of Congressional lettermarking. We also established a formal partnership with Florida’s NPR affiliates, which produced a radio report on our lettermarking project.
- Plus, we’ve received grants and provided grants. The New York-based Center on Media, Crime and Justice awarded FCIR $4,999 to fund the first research stage of what we believe will be one of our marquee investigations for 2011. And we recently awarded FCIR Watchdog Fund grants to Florida journalists investigating the state justice system and immigration in Florida.
And that’s just the beginning. We’re also planning to watchdog a new governor and legislature that promise to bring dramatic change to Florida.
But the scope of our coverage will depend, in part, on the generosity of readers who value our commitment to bilingual nonprofit investigative reporting in the public interest.
That’s why we hope you will consider making a gift to FCIR. Your support will help us continue and grow our critically important mission.
As you make your holiday giving this year, we ask that you support FCIR with a donation to support investigative journalism in Florida. And please let us know what kind of stories you would like to see from FCIR.
Thanks and best wishes for the new year.
Sincerely,
Mc Nelly Torres and Trevor Aaronson
Associate Directors