FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT Justin Silverman | 774.244.2365 | justin@nefac.org
APPLICATION MATERIALS DEADLINE AUGUST 1
Applications are now available for fellowships to the 2018 New England First Amendment Institute (NEFAI). This eighth annual institute will be held from Sept. 16-18 at Northeastern University in Boston, Mass.
Application materials can be obtained here. All applications must be received no later than August 1.
The New England First Amendment Coalition provides the tuition-free, three-day investigative journalism institute each year for 25 working journalists within the region. It includes workshops and presentations featuring some of the country’s elite investigative reporters, editors and media attorneys.
“We have provided free investigative journalism training to more than 175 reporters and editors since the institute began,” said Justin Silverman, executive director of NEFAC. “Since 2011, we have strengthened newsrooms throughout New England and we’re looking forward to another successful program.”
Speakers and faculty for this year’s institute will be announced later this summer.
Previous speakers include David Barboza of The New York Times; Kathleen Carroll, formerly of the Associated Press; Wesley Lowery of The Washington Post; The Marshall Project’s Bill Keller, formerly of The New York Times; Pulitzer Prize winners Carol Leonnig of The Washington Post and David Barstow of The New York Times; ESPN’s Don Van Natta, Jr.; the 2002 Pulitzer Prize-winning Spotlight Team from The Boston Globe; as well as Anna Schecter, a Peabody Award winning producer for NBC; Cindy Galli of ABC News; and Bill Buzenberg, former executive director of the Center for Public Integrity.
NEFAI fellows will learn the latest investigative and database reporting techniques, state-specific public records and open meeting laws, and how to best obtain documents through the federal Freedom of Information Act, among many other skills.
This year’s institute is made possible by the generosity of the Providence Journal Charitable Legacy Fund, Northeastern University, the New England Newspaper & Press Association and Boston University. Other supporters of NEFAC for this year include the Barr Foundation, The Robertson Foundation, The Boston Globe and WBUR-Boston.
More information about NEFAI 2018 can be read here. Information on previous institutes can be found here.
NEFAC was formed in 2006 to advance and protect the Five Freedoms of the First Amendment, including the principle of the public’s right to know. We’re a broad-based organization of people who believe in the power of an informed democratic society. Our members include lawyers, journalists, historians, academics and private citizens.
Our coalition is funded through contributions made by those who value the First Amendment and who strive to keep government accountable. Please make a donation here.
Major Supporters of NEFAC include the Barr Foundation, The Providence Journal Charitable Legacy Fund, The Robertson Foundation, The Boston Globe, WBUR and Boston University.