Pulitzer Center Expands Collaborations to Europe

The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting is extending its efforts to promote news reporting on health and development issues to Europe thanks to funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The $500,000 grant enables the Pulitzer Center to bring its unique model for covering underreported global issues to a region that accounts for the majority of the world's development assistance.

"The initiative lets us collaborate with—and learn from—some of the world's best news organizations," said Jon Sawyer, executive director of the Pulitzer Center. "This support also allows us to expand our presence in schools and universities in Europe, strengthening our educational initiatives and facilitating the kind of cross-border discussion and engagement that is central to our work."

The full-cycle model the Pulitzer Center seeks to apply in Europe has been refined in the United States since Sawyer founded the journalism non-profit in 2006. The Washington, DC-based Center funds independent reporting on systemic issues worldwide with the intent of raising the standard of media coverage, engaging the broadest possible public in global affairs and creating issue-awareness campaigns based on solid journalism. Global health and development issues are a central focus in that work.

Educational outreach is a core part of the Center's mission. Our secondary-school programs provide students with fresh information on global issues by bringing Pulitzer Center-supported journalists into classrooms and through the use of online educational resources. The Center's Campus Consortium initiative goes a step further by forging dynamic relationships with colleges and universities that support the Center in bringing journalists on campus and giving students access to travel fellowships through the Center.

Gates Foundation funding will enable the Pulitzer Center to work with high-end European news-media outlets and educational institutions to support in-depth reporting projects and create online tools for information sharing and deep engagement. The immediate goal is to raise awareness of underreported global health and development issues across diverse European audiences. The ultimate goal is to improve the lives of vulnerable populations at risk.

The Pulitzer Center is the recipient of numerous honors including an Emmy for new approaches to news and documentary, the Asia Society/Goldman Sachs Foundation Prize for best use of technology in international education, and best online journalism prizes from the National Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the National Press Foundation.

For more information, contact Ann Peters, director of development and outreach at apeters[AT]pulitzercenter.org