Uncharted Journalism Fund Selects Tree Poaching Investigation
The Uncharted Journalism Fund is excited to announce its sixth grant recipients: Sharon Nadeem, Andrew Seal, and Alexander Kim. The grant will help the team uncover the untold stories of tree poaching in B.C’s forests.
Every year nearly $2 million worth of trees go missing from B.C’s forests
“Every year nearly $2 million worth of trees go missing from B.C’s forests, stolen by people with chainsaws, bush mills and pickup trucks,” said Nadeem. “This project will investigate the poaching of one the province’s most valuable resource.”
“The Uncharted Journalism Fund provides us the resources required to report an in-depth story on crimes spanning across nearly 33-million acres of protected forests and develop relationships with the various actors involved in every step of this process.”
Nadeem, Seal, and Kim met as students in the UBC Master of Journalism program. Each was selected for UBC’s International Reporting Program through a competitive application process in their second year of studies. In that program, they had the opportunity to report together while on overseas assignment. That teamwork was evident in their application.
The project was selected from more than a dozen applications for this round of funding.
About Uncharted
The Uncharted Journalism Fund was started with the intent to encourage adventurous journalism initiatives in or about British Columbia.
“At a time when journalists are less able to undertake investigative journalism, I’m glad we’re able to support a project like this,” said Phillip Smith, co-dean of the fund.
The Uncharted Journalism Fund launched just over two years ago, an initiative of private citizens concerned about the shrinking state of journalism yet excited about possibilities of new media and technologies. It has received more than 100 applications since, shortlisting more than a dozen, and granting a total of $17,000.
“This has been an incredible adventure every step of the way,” said Phillip Smith, co-dean of the fund.
Successful applicants can be traditional reporters with an important scoop but without the resources to pursue it. The grant can be used to pay for all or part of a larger investigation, from offsetting costs or learning new skills to paying for travel to remote regions.
Successful applicants could also be those with innovative ideas for the publishing or distribution of written stories, video or audio, data analysis and visualizations, and so on.
The innovation mandate is broad by design, reflecting the rapidly changing field of journalism.
The Uncharted Journalism Fund: Chet Woodside, Phillip Smith, Alex Samur, Giselle Portenier, Erin Millar, Mark Hamilton, John Gray, Geoff D’Auria, and David Beers as well as Stuart Sutton-Jones and Mary Lynn Young.
