For local journalists, journalism students and communities, the Initiative for Investigative Reporting has been a win-win endeavor. The Knight-supported program, which pairs Northeastern University journalism students with community news organizations to produce local investigative news stories, has so far published 19 in-depth pieces. For students, the program provides the opportunity to collaborate with journalists and professors on hard-hitting local pieces; for the news organizations, the program offers quality, in-depth stories fit for publication. For communities, the program has shed light on important local issues, including the Dorchester local government’s plans for crime-ridden properties and Cambridge’s lax inspections of school cafeterias.

                The program is led by Walter Robinson, a Distinguished Professor of Journalism at Northeastern, who spent more than 30 years at the Boston Globe as a reporter and editor. With Senior Investigative Fellow Stephen Kurkjian, Northeastern students have been partnering with the Dorchester Reporter and Cambridge Day. Since the project began, the traffic on both sites has increased by more than 10,000 views each.

The Northeastern students’ stories are just one way that the Initiative strives to promote collaboration between journalists. Their site, Watchdog New England, also offers journalists and citizens valuable resources free of charge, such as databases of public information for New England governments, including state payroll information. On November 13-15, 2012, Watchdog New England will also co-host The New England First Amendment Institute’s first annual conference on freedom of information laws and investigative reporting techniques.

                The Initiative for Investigative Reporting has its origins in a similar program launched by Professor Robinson in 2007, where students collaborate with the Boston Globe to create page-one investigative pieces. The Initiative began its partnerships with the Dorchester Reporter and Cambridge Day in 2010, with the publication of a public spending investigation. This project is one of many Knight-supported efforts, including News21, that enables top journalism students to work in partnership with content providers in their local communities.