Uncharted territory: An update from the far north
With the first project deep into its journey north, the Uncharted Journalism Fund is weeks away from granting a second $3,000 to another worthy reporting adventure
The deadline for the grant is March 31. The application form is here.
The inaugural grant was awarded in January to Emily McCarty, a masters of journalism candidate at the University of British Columbia who is now gathering the stories of transgender and gender non-conforming communities living between the Yukon and the Lower Mainland.
Said McCarty recently:
“I’ve just come back from 10 days of reporting in Whitehorse. The town was small, the hearts were huge.”
“I talked to everyone from the women’s hockey league to the city government to the territory’s only psychologist providing the necessary support services. I interviewed courageous people who identify as transgender, two-spirit, or gender non-conforming in one of the most unforgiving parts of Canada.”
“The stories I heard were not of the cold but of warmth.”
Who can apply?
Anyone with a scoop or disruptive experiment. Preference is given to those with a tight focus and a demonstrated ability to deliver, though much weight is given to a proposal’s originality.
The fund encourages anyone with a good idea to apply: journalists, scientists, filmmakers, hackers, city planners. The next big idea in journalism could as easily come from outside a newsroom as within.
The fund also invites previous applicants to try again.
The type of acceptable projects is broad — the fund welcomes bold experiments in reporting process, storytelling form, or distribution model.
Your best chance is to answer the questions in the application clearly and directly.
What is the Uncharted Journalism Fund?
Funded out of the pockets of a small group of private citizens concerned about the shrinking state of journalism yet excited about possibilities of new media and technologies, the fund issue grants of up to $3,000 several times a year.
The fund is happy to welcome Mark Hamilton as its newest trustee.
If you’d like to join Mark and the other trustees in kickstarting the future of journalism for about $3 a day, contact the Uncharted Journalism Fund here.
The Uncharted Journalism Fund: Chet Woodside, Phillip Smith, Alex Samur, Giselle Portenier, Erin Millar, John Gray, Geoff D’Auria, and David Beers as well as Mark Hamilton, Mary Lynn Young and Stuart Sutton-Jones.
