Ravitch program seeks to fund reporters writing about pensions and debt

The Ravitch Fiscal Reporting Program at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism is offering grants to finance ambitious fiscal reporting projects.

The new fellowship program will make at least three awards for up to $15,000 each to reporters seeking to dig deeply into budgets, debt, pensions and other post-employment obligations, tax policy and its implications and how fiscal stress changes government priorities.

Stories on specific issues, states and municipalities in fiscal distress, broad public policy issues and the consequences of fiscal policies will be considered.

The deadline for the first round of grants is Oct. 16.

The Ravitch Fellowships becomes the third program at the CUNY J-School to fund investigative and in-depth reporting, following in the footsteps of the McGraw Center for Business Journalism and the Urban Reporting Program.

“With many news organizations no longer having the resources to tackle complex, time-consuming stories and state coverage in particular being cut back, the fellowships enable experienced journalists to do the deep reporting needed to produce a serious piece of investigative, analytic, or narrative journalism,’’ said Greg David, director of the Ravitch Program.

The fellowships are available to freelancers and reporters at established media outlets and nonprofit news organizations.

The Ravitch website includes more detailed information on the fellowships, answers to frequently asked questions and an application.

In addition to the fellowships, the Ravitch Program provides advanced training in state and local fiscal issues through week-long seminars emphasizing in-depth knowledge of key controversies, overcoming reporting challenges and improving storytelling.

To apply, go here.