The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism received a $35,000 grant to support a project that will examine the water quality around the state, according to a Monday university press release.
The Water Watch Wisconsin project, which will begin in the summer of 2014, received the money from the Online News Association. The grant will help partner WCIJ with organizations such as Madison Commons, state newspapers and public and commercial broadcast outlets, as well as volunteer citizen water monitoring.
WCIJ Executive Director Andy Hall said he looks forward to the potential of the project to make journalistic work more widespread.
“We're hoping that this will increase the impact of the journalism and will benefit students, as well as residents across the state,” Hall said in the release.
Professor Katy Culver, associate director of the Center for Journalism Ethics, will also manage the project. Culver will incorporate the project into six or seven journalism course sections offered at UW-Madison and students will document their findings online.
“This will enable real progress for our students and define new paths for us to move our courses forward,” Culver said in the press release.
