WASHINGTON, July 3, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- The National Press Foundation (NPF) and the
National Press Club Journalism Institute (NPCJI) have jointly
awarded $45,000 to fund four
reporting projects on environmental justice. This is the third year
that the two leading journalism organizations have partnered to
fund investigative environmental justice journalism.
Each of the following grantees will receive $11,250 to fund their project:
Jena Brooker,
BridgeDetroit. Brooker's project will explore the impacts of
Michigan's Air Pollution Control
Exemption, which exempts some of the state's worst violators of air
and water quality laws from sales, use, and property taxes. Brooker
seeks to identify how much this law has cost Detroit in lost taxes which would have
otherwise been used to fund city services and the impact of excess
emissions from the exempted facilities in question. After
publication, she will create a physical fact sheet to distribute to
Detroit residents, of which
300,000 lack broadband internet access.
Rob Chaney, Missoulian. Chaney's project will
examine the differences among Indigenous and other communities in
transitioning from coal to renewable energy sources, with a focus
on three neighboring communities: the Northern Cheyenne
Reservation, Crow Nation, and the town of Colstrip. It will explore
the different ways mainstream and Indigenous cultures respond to
climate change and will compare the energy-economy transition plan
of Colstrip to the proposals offered on the reservations. In
addition to appearing in the Missoulian, the published work will be
made available to Indian Country Today and its affiliates and Lee
Enterprises outlets across the U.S.
Celeste Gracia and Aaron Sánchez Guerra, North
Carolina Public Radio – WUNC. This three-part audio and digital
project will focus on labor conditions for outdoor workers in
North Carolina as climate change
exposes them to higher temperatures. Gracia and Sánchez Guerra will
explore the state's current and historical political climate as it
relates to labor and recent calls by labor advocates for a
statewide heat standard. Among those affected are immigrant farm
workers, construction workers and airport workers.
Lue Palmer, Freelance.
Palmer will investigate the impact of noise pollution on the health
of a community in Independence,
Louisiana, where residents attribute a spate of recent
deaths to relentless late-night noise from sixteen-wheel trucks
travelling to and from a nearby dump and gravel pit, seven nights a
week. Palmer plans to produce – in both print and longform audio –
an investigation into the final months of the people who died and
document what nights are like in the mostly Black homes that line
the road to the gravel pit.
"Environmental racism is a critical issue that deserves the
attention of these thoughtful and hardworking journalists," said
Anne Godlasky, President of the National Press Foundation.
"We're thrilled at the diversity of topics and communities covered
in these projects. Each is a story that needs to be told and we're
grateful to support this work alongside NPCJI."
"Each of these projects will investigate and bring context to
serious issues impacting vulnerable communities," said Beth Francesco, executive director of the
National Press Club Journalism Institute. "We are proud to support
this work and hope these stories will inspire others to closely
examine environmental justice issues in their own backyards."
The Kozik Grants are funded by a 1991 gift from the late
Dr. Franklin Kozik in honor of his
deceased son Robert Kozik. The four
grantees were selected by judges Antonia Juhasz, Yanick Rice Lamb, Charles Self and Harriet Washington. This is the third round
of grants awarded since 2021.
See more about the 2022 Kozik grant recipients'
projects and the 2021 Kozik grant
recipients' projects.
About The National Press Foundation
The National
Press Foundation is a nonprofit whose mission is to "make good
journalists better." We educate journalists on the complex issues
of the day and train them to use the latest reporting tools and
techniques. The foundation recognizes and encourages excellence in
journalism through its awards and fellowships.
About the National Press Club Journalism
Institute
The National Press Club Journalism
Institute promotes an engaged global citizenry through an
independent and free press, and equips journalists with skills and
standards to inform the public in ways that inspire a more
representative democracy. As the non-profit affiliate of the
National Press Club, the Institute powers journalism in the public
interest.
Press contact: Beth
Francesco, bfrancesco@press.org
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SOURCE National Press Club Journalism Institute