TRC Investigative Reporting Fellowship
The Reporters’ Collective (TRC) is delighted to announce Meenakshi Kapoor as the winner of the 2nd TRC Investigative Reporting Fellowship. Meenakshi, a TRC Fellow for the next two months, will be working with the TRC team to produce top-grade investigative work in English. Her work will be published by The Collective in English and Hindi, and made available for co-publication by regional newsrooms.
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Meet Our New Fellows
Meenakshi Kapoor
Meenakshi Kapoor is an environmental researcher and lawyer who writes on environmental laws, policies, and natural resource governance. Her work has appeared in publications such as The Caravan, The Wire, Scroll, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, and Mongabay. Meenakshi's research on Indian environmental regulation has been published by the Economic & Political Weekly and the International Centre for Not-for-Profit Law.
In the coming days, Meenakshi will work on a project that falls within our themes of Political Economy and Environment and Climate Change.
In the second round, we received 35 applications. Some of them stood out much more than others. While we can’t host all of the shortlisted stories, just like the last round, we decided to accept one more investigative pitch that intersects crime and our theme of Governance and Accountability. Our Special Grantee Kashif Kakvi will be taking on this investigative project.
Kashif Kakvi
Kashif is a multimedia journalist with a decade of experience across print, TV, and digital media. He reports from Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in central India. His investigative work focuses on governance, human rights, corruption, politics, and atrocities against marginalized communities. Kashif has contributed to news outlets such as CNN, Al Jazeera, Article14, The Wire, TOI+, The Caravan, The Quint, and NewsClick.
The Fellowship
Announced last month, our second round of fellowship was open to candidate(s) with at least two years of reporting experience to tackle an ambitious investigative project they propose. This fellowship is funded by citizens who champion our work.
Selecting just one out of the 35 applications was rather tough. We assessed each application on different parameters, including originality and exclusivity, our mandate, availability of evidence, and feasibility of the story pitched.
We had invited proposals by journalists from across the country to share their story ideas aligning with the following themes:
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The Grant
The selected candidate will receive a grant of Rs. 1,00,000 for the story (inclusive of all taxes). This excludes travel costs incurred for reporting.
The selected fellow will get 20% of the grant immediately at the start of the fellowship, another 40% when the final story draft is submitted, and the rest after the story is published. Reporting-related expenses will be reimbursed along with the final payment on submission of bills.
Who Should Apply
Independent journalists with at least two years of professional experience as a reporter. Journalists with an ambitious investigative story proposal that needs time and resources to execute.
The story that is being proposed should have progressed past the initial stages of reporting and should be backed up with documents to convince our editors to greenlight the project.
Timeline
The fellowship period will be from 2 September 2024 to 30 October 2024, with a draft expected at the end of this period.
The applicants have to submit a tentative work plan in the submission form given below, outlining the key milestones and deadlines for their investigative project.
Remember to refer to our pitching guideline.
Ethical Guidelines
Accuracy and Truthfulness: Verify facts rigorously. Ensure that all information presented is accurate and truthful.
Fairness and Impartiality: Present diverse perspectives and avoid personal or ideological biases.
Independence: Disclose any potential conflicts of interest.
Privacy: Respect individuals' privacy rights.
Informed Consent: Seek informed consent from individuals whom you will be approaching during the investigation.
Confidentiality: Safeguard the confidentiality of sources and sensitive information. Clearly communicate to sources the extent to which their identities will be protected and uphold the commitment to protecting whistleblowers.
Legal Compliance: Ensure that the investigation complies with all applicable laws and regulations. Seek legal advice when necessary, while not allowing legal threats to stymy the pursuit of truth.
So, if you are waiting to tell the next big story, apply here:
A word from our past fellows
As a long-time follower of The Collective’s work, being awarded the inaugural TRC Investigative Reporting Fellowship was a remarkable opportunity.
This prestigious fellowship enabled me to delve deeply into a subject of immense significance to millions of Indian youth. It gave me the resources and support to explore this critical issue thoroughly.
- Suchak Patel TRC FELLOW
At a time when Indian journalism has been reduced to sheer sycophancy of the political masters, working with The Collective, I felt that it is possible to produce critical and in-depth stories based on empirical facts.
I realised that journalism is not just about setting certain narratives which please one or another but it is more about dealing with piles of data and digging out something relevant and impactful.
- Alok Rajput TRC Special Grantee
