DEADLINE: Watchdog Fund, Florida Center for Investigative Reporting

The Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, a bilingual investigative nonprofit serving the Sunshine State, will fund several projects this year through the FCIR Watchdog Fund. Payment will be up to $2,500 per project. Proposals will be reviewed starting Sept. 15, 2010, and will be accepted until the extended deadline of Oct. 22, 2010.

FCIR's focus is on international, state and local issues affecting Florida and its communities. The FCIR Watchdog Fund is particularly interested in funding projects dealing with government corruption, waste and inefficiency; immigration; environment; education; and social justice.

A panel representing FCIR's board of directors and journalism advisory committee will review and help select the winning proposals.

Projects will be distributed on FCIR's website, published by media partners, and made available to news outlets across Florida. Stories in English will be translated into Spanish for wider distribution, and stories in Spanish will be translated into English.

Interested journalists should submit no more than a two-page proposal outlining the project, a resume, three clips and estimated completion date to watchdogfund@fcir.org 

Launched in 2010, FCIR is funded by a grant from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation.

FCIR is located at the International Media Center, a nonprofit program at Florida International University dedicated to training journalists in Latin America. Its mission is to work in Florida's public interest by exposing corruption, waste and miscarriages of justice.