Why the Prairie State Museums Project?

This project was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center. The Prairie State Museums Project appreciates the Pulitzer Center’s critical support in funding local journalism initiatives, including this initiative as a part of the Coronavirus News Collaboration Challenge. Below is a summary of the grant program. For more information, visit the Pulitzer Center’s Coronavirus News Collaboration page.

The Prairie State Museum project was selected in particular from a pool of 237 applicants for its breadth of collaboration across diverse news outlets and geographies in Illinois and its focus on the arts and culture sector, in particular, museums. 

Grant Overview

The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a non-profit organization that supports independent global journalism, is seeking proposals that develop innovative approaches to reporting on the novel coronavirus crisis using collaboration among journalists and newsrooms across state lines or national borders. This opportunity is open to all newsrooms and independent journalists in the United States and abroad. 

At a time of scarce media resources, the coronavirus story challenges newsrooms to find creative ways to bring accurate, compelling, and timely information to their readers.  We are eager for proposals that break traditional notions of scooping and competition and instead use the power of sharing and collaboration to increase reporting capacity and expand the reach and impact of stories.

We are seeking strong proposals that involve a strategic and concerted effort by multiple journalists and/or newsrooms to pursue a reporting project together, leveraging resources, expertise, and publication platforms. 

In addition to a strong collaboration component for reporting and publication, we encourage proposals that:

• Focus on systemic, under-reported issues underlying the coronavirus crisis 
• Use data-driven and/or interdisciplinary approaches to reporting on coronavirus 
• Hold the powerful accountable