Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation

For immediate release: February 9, 2007

Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation Announces $3.6 Million in Grants to Journalism Organizations

(Oklahoma City) --- The Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation announced today the distribution of $3.6 million in grants to 36 journalism organizations nationwide.

Edith Kinney Gaylord founded the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation in 1982 to support local and national efforts to improve the quality of journalism practices among various media. The Foundation provides funding for projects that promote excellence and instill high ethical standards in journalism.

Organizations awarded grants from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation include:

$2,000,000 to University of Oklahoma for the final phase of Gaylord Hall. The additional 44,000 square feet will include space for the Public Relations Student Agency, the Graduate Studies Center for the new Ph.D. program and the professional master's program, a 180-seat auditorium, and a two-story sound stage.

$250,000 to Oklahoma State University for an Endowed Professorship in Sports Media, enhancing the development of Oklahoma State’s new Sports Media Program.

$200,000 for the Challenge Fund for Journalism IV, a grant program sponsored by the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, the Ford Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The program, for organizations in the journalism field, seeks to enhance organizational capacity and readiness for fundraising and supports participant organizations with a matching challenge grant to assist in implementing donor development strategies.

$150,000 to East Central University for a fully integrated, digital television studio with internet streaming capabilities. The studio will be housed in a 2,650 square foot production space located within the new Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center, now under construction.

$107,000 to Colorado College for journalism courses in the Departments of English and Political Science, including a capstone course for senior journalism minors.

$105,000 to Oklahoma City Community College to upgrade the Broadcast News Lab.

$85,000 to Alfred Friendly Foundation to fund professional development opportunities for mid-career print journalists from developing countries and the American journalists who serve as their newsroom mentors.

$71,000 to Oklahoma State University for State Capitol Report, a project of Oklahoma Public Radio KOSU, to enhance news coverage of events affecting rural areas.

$60,000 to University of Montana for Reznet, an online newspaper that provides Native American college students with training, experience, mentoring and career development as they prepare for journalism careers.

$50,000 to Oklahoma Baptist University for Phase II of the Student News Media Enhancement Program to include upgrading equipment for News30, the University’s weekly television newscast.

$45,000 to Investigative Reporters and Editors for Better Watchdog workshops, Unleashing the Watchdogs workshops, and Watchdogs for Ethnic Media Newsrooms, adding sessions focused on immigration, social injustice, workplace safety and questionable business practices.

$37,000 to Washington and Lee University for a symposium on balancing First Amendment rights with national security concerns.

$34,000 to Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication for the 2007 World Journalism Education Congress in Singapore.

$25,000 to Photographic Art & Science Foundation to exhibit Capture the Moment: The Pulitzer Prize Photographs, featuring 135 images from every winning Pulitzer Prize photograph since 1942. The exhibit will be on display at the International Photography Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City from November 1, 2007 through January 31, 2008.

$24,000 to Lawton High School for its student newspaper.

$22,000 to Centenary College of Louisiana to upgrade and equip student broadcast and audio production facilities.

$15,000 to University of Southern Maine for Blunt Youth Radio Project.

$10,000 to Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless for an initiative to improve Streetvibes street newspaper.

Grants ranging from $20,000 to $85,000 include Marquette University, San Francisco State University, Radio and Television News Directors Foundation, University of North Texas, Student Media Company, and Mid-America Press Institute Foundation.

Grants ranging from $10,000 to $20,000 include Ball State University, Foundation for American Communications, Children’s Pressline, Appalshop, Lipscomb University, Center for Investigative Reporting, and Street Sense.

Grants ranging from $4,000 to $10,000 include NAMME (National Association of Minority Media Executives) Foundation, University of Texas at El Paso, Kansas Newspaper Foundation, National Public Radio, University of Kentucky, and Religion Newswriters Foundation.

For more information on the Inasmuch Foundation and the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, please visit our websites at www.inasmuchfoundation.org, and www.journalismfoundation.org or call 405-604-5292.

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