There’s an old saying that “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting its shoes on”—that was a saying true to the last century. Nowadays a lie has circled the globe dozens of times and been clicked, shared, liked, and re-shared again millions of times while the truth is still lacing up.
While technology has changed, the standards of true professional journalists have not. There are still plenty of journalists who abide by a code of ethics, who seek truth and report it fairly and in a balanced manner, who put on their butt-kicking shoes every morning to stamp out misinformation and ignorance.
The Utah Investigative Journalism Project supports this most vital mission. We are the only nonprofit in Utah dedicated to developing investigative watchdog reporting and to teaching these techniques for free to local journalists.
But we need your help.
Your tax-deductible donation will help us strengthen a variety of local media organizations. You will help produce hard-hitting watchdog journalism in our state that holds the powerful accountable and gives voice to the voiceless.
Our recent stories have:
–Looked at how two state lawmakers stood to profit privately from the development of a controversial freeway project that they championed as public officials.
–Given voice to county inmates tortured by their guards.
–Exposed how a principal distorted statistics for his innovative school and then profited off consulting school districts around the country on how to adapt his innovative model.
We’ve also taught investigative techniques to large and small newsrooms across the state from major TV stations to college newspapers. We mentor journalists on how to fight for public records through denials and the state appeals process.
Times have changed for the media, but with crisis comes opportunity. For generations media has survived and even thrived on advertising dollars. Those days are over.
Now it is time for average citizens to stake a claim in their democratic institutions by taking ownership in the local media. Help us make history and you can also help protect our future. This is the story of all of us, and we can’t do it without you.
Click here to make your tax-deductible donation.
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