A word from our Executive Director

Democracy requires a diversity of voices in the newsroom. To sustain the power of those voices, we need to keep them safe, and intentionally provide them with support and opportunities.

This mission has guided the IWMF’s work for more than 30 years.

In 2022, we marveled at the tenacity of the reporters we supported through our grants and reporting programs – and the exploding need for safety training, emergency assistance and the growing portfolio of mental health resources we provide for journalists around the world.

The stories we fund are a powerful tool for change. One that stuck with me, from our Fund for Women Journalists grantees Naomi Ishisaka, Corinne Chin and Jennifer Moriguchi Buchanan, spotlighted the Seattle Times’ racist and misleading coverage of the 13,000 local Japanese residents incarcerated after Pearl Harbor – they developed a riveting story package that corrected the record. The Times – one of the newsrooms that joined the IWMF’s News Safety Project – greenlit the project. The story is now being taught in classrooms, showing the power of journalism and the Fund itself, which is now in its ninth year.

Inclusion, of course, has many dimensions. This year we launched our first fund dedicated to Indigenous storytelling in the U.S.; our Exprésate journalists learned how to responsibly report LGBTQI+ stories in Latin America; our Reproductive Rights Reporting Fund grantees covered fall-out from the overturn of Roe v Wade; our new REM Haitian reporting fellows worked to dispel the tired narrative of a disaster-torn nation; and more.

Funders large and small committed to these programs in 2022 and beyond, and for that we are sincerely grateful.

What stories do you want told? As our grantees know, those that help right wrongs, stem from forgotten corners and develop from personal conversations and lived experience over time often have the most impact.

Sincerely,

Elisa Lees Muñoz, Executive Director