Deadline to apply – September 18
The New England First Amendment Coalition will host its 11th annual New England First Amendment Institute as a multi-day online program this fall.
The institute is typically offered over three days at Northeastern University in Boston. Due to continuing health concerns related to COVID-19 and the limited ability of many journalists in the region to take extended time off, fellows this year will be attending remotely.
The program will consist of classes taught between Oct. 31 and Nov. 6. Sessions will be in the morning with optional and state-specific classes scheduled throughout the day. Those selected as fellows should be committed to participating in all sessions. A complete schedule will be released soon.
“Providing the Institute remotely again this year allows us to teach local journalists in new and exciting ways,” said Justin Silverman, NEFAC’s executive director. “While we look forward to hosting NEFAI in-person again soon, we have a very special week planned for all those invited to join us this fall.”
The deadline to apply is Sept. 18.
Application materials can be obtained here.
NEFAC provides the tuition-free investigative journalism institute each year for 25 working journalists within the region. It includes workshops and presentations featuring some of the country’s most elite investigative reporters, editors and media attorneys. More than 250 journalists from about 100 local news organizations have benefited from the New England First Amendment Institute since it began in 2011.
Speakers and faculty for this year’s institute will be announced later this summer and fall. Previous speakers and faculty include:
Stephanie McCrummen, Margaret Sullivan and Scott Higham of The Washington Post; Terence Smith, contributing columnist for the Capital Gazette (Annapolis, Md.); David Cuillier of the University of Arizona School of Journalism; David Barboza of The New York Times; Kathleen Carroll, formerly of the Associated Press; Wesley Lowery, formerly of The Washington Post; The Marshall Project’s Bill Keller, formerly of The New York Times; Pulitzer Prize winners Carol Leonnig of The Washington Post and David Barstow, formerly of The New York Times; ESPN’s Don Van Natta, Jr.; the 2002 Pulitzer Prize-winning Spotlight Team from The Boston Globe; as well as Anna Schecter, a Peabody Award winning producer for NBC; Cindy Galli of ABC News; and Bill Buzenberg, former executive director of the Center for Public Integrity. Among many others.
NEFAI fellows learn the latest investigative and database reporting techniques, state specific public records and open meeting laws, and how to best obtain documents through the federal Freedom of Information Act, among other skills.
This year’s institute is made possible by the generosity of the Academy of New England Journalists.
Other supporters of NEFAC this year include Hearst Connecticut Media Group, Paul and Ann Sagan, The Robertson Foundation, The Boston Globe, Boston University and WBUR-Boston.
