The Medill National Security Journalism Initiative has received two additional years of funding from the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
The NSJI provides journalists-in-training and working journalists with the knowledge and skills necessary to report accurately, completely and with context on events and issues related to defense, security and civil liberties. The initiative was begun in January, 2009 with an initial three-year, $1.3 million McCormick Foundation grant. The new grant is for $1 million over two years.
McCormick Foundation announced the NSJI funding on Oct. 3, along with a total of $5 million in new grants to “22 organizations committed to strengthening quality journalism, promoting news literacy and protecting press freedoms. These grants underscore the continuing importance of journalism in preserving a strong democracy.”
“The McCormick Foundation’s decision to renew funding at such a generous level for the Medill National Security Journalism Initiative will give hundreds of Medill students the opportunity to become more knowledgeable in explaining important national security issues to the public while also helping working journalists cover national security better,” said Prof. Ellen Shearer, co-director of the NSJI.
“The issues have never been more important – and we appreciate McCormick’s support in our efforts to help students and working journalists better serve the public interest by being on the cutting edge of this fast changing media environment through exploration and using new and innovative ways of telling these stories.”
The Chicago-based McCormick Foundation, established at the 1955 death of longtime Chicago Tribune publisher Col. Robert R. McCormick, is one of the nation’s largest foundations, with $1 billion in assets.
