What we believe
Accurate information is necessary for democracy.
We need access to reliable information about the world we live in for a healthy government and society.
More journalism needs investigative rigor.
There is too much space between the best of journalism and the bulk of journalism – a problem deepened by economic incentives of for-profit media. Bridging that gulf is key to building a media that the public can trust.
Everyone is capable of learning investigative skills.
For too long, too many people have been excluded from investigative journalism, which has resulted in too many important stories remaining untold.
What we do
We pair student and early-career journalists with professional reporters on investigative, data and enterprise projects. With the guidance of our staff editors, IRW’s interns and fellows learn journalism by doing journalism. In exchange, our partners are empowered to produce ambitious journalism they would have otherwise been unable to accomplish.
What we produce
In the last year, IRW produced and co-produced 30+ stories on topics including the environment, health, sexual harassment, immigration, race and politics. IRW collaborates with major national newsrooms as well as focused nonprofits, including a substantial partnership with The Washington Post, co-publishing more than 35 stories and contributing to hundreds of others.
Our recent work
Revealing the Smithsonian’s ‘Racial Brain Collection’ |
The Washington Post
Post Practicum members worked on this investigative series into the Smithsonian’s collection of 30,700 human bones and body parts, including 255 brains. The series reveals the museum’s “racial brain collection,” the anthropologist behind its curation and the stories of those whose brains were taken.
Illustration by Tara McCarty/The Washington Post
The Biggest Backlog in the US Diversity Visa Program? All the Broken Promises to Those Who Applied |
The Center for Public Integrity & Mother Jones
IRW intern Daniella Jiménez told the story of Diversity Visa applicants who were told they’d been given a visa, just to later be told the program was full.
Photo from Getty Images
