Applications Open for Dream Opportunity in Investigative Journalism

Authors:

Fernanda Buffa
Pulitzer Center Staff

Gustavo Faleiros
Pulitzer Center Staff

Call for proposals for the Pulitzer Center's fifth cohort of Rainforest Investigations Network Fellows

Pulitzer Center is accepting applications for fifth RIN cohort

I once had a journalism teacher who would say, “Choose wisely what you cover; journalism is the first draft of history.” The words struck the perfect balance between uncertainty and inspiration. You could feel the room shift as students, moved by the sentence, strived to make thoughtful decisions about the stories they would tell. Perhaps not everyone knew that those words came from former Washington Post Publisher Philip L. Graham, but that’s beside the point.

The point is—we have a choice. We can choose what to shed light on. And when considering the most urgent issues of our time, many journalists would agree that investigative environmental reporting is a top priority. That is why the Pulitzer Center is proud to once again open its call for applications for its Rainforest Investigations Network (RIN).

Reaching its fifth year, the RIN Fellowship fosters collaboration among journalists, enabling them to investigate the financial networks, illegal practices, and legal loopholes that fuel large-scale deforestation and environmental destruction across the Amazon, the Congo Basin, and Southeast Asia.

For one year, RIN Fellows will receive extensive training in data analysis and investigative techniques. They will work on both individual and collaborative reporting projects to uncover the root causes of environmental harm and how these issues intersect with social, economic, and political systems. We also have three Fellowships dedicated to transparency and governance investigations, with a focus on exposing the financial mechanisms and unsustainable supply chains that enable rainforest degradation.

Recently, RIN Fellows published groundbreaking stories about the Brazilian stock exchange’s role in deforestation, and how the Indonesian president-elect, Prabowo Subianto, controls almost half a million hectares of Indonesian land. These journalists chose to shine a light on how agribusiness greed and weak environmental regulations are shaping our current, unsustainable moment in history. What will you contribute?

Applications for the RIN close on December 31, 2024.

We hope to read your first draft,

Impact

Pulitzer Center grantees have been honored by the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) for their environmental reporting. The 2024 winners included:

The student reporting teams from the University of Florida and the University of Missouri for their joint project, The Price of Plenty, which investigated the effects of synthetic fertilizers on human and environmental health.
The project Misplaced Trust, by grantees Tristan Ahtone, Amanda Tachine, Audrianna Goodwin, Clayton Aldern, Robert Lee, An Garagiola, and Maria Parazo Rose. The investigation located millions of acres of land taken from U.S. Indigenous communities for natural resource extraction that funds public land-grant universities.
“Hollowed Out,” a story by grantee Quinn Glabicki, which explores how the expansion of EQT, a Pittsburgh-based natural gas producer operating in West Virginia, has affected the health of four families.
“A River in Flux”— a story by grantees Dado Galdieri, Patrick Vanier, and Daniel Grossman—received an honorable mention. It tackles extreme flooding and droughts in the Amazon.