Grants

The primary applicant must be a professional journalist in the areas of General Journalism, Photojournalism, Digital Broadcasting, Communication, or Mass Communications, a practicing psychologist working with trauma journalists, or a professor, or technology expert and or data analyst working with trauma-informed practices or identification and treatment of trauma symptoms that could be applied to use with or support at-risk journalists.

Past grant recipients may be eligible to reapply; however, no person may receive more than one award administered by the Trust for Trauma Journalism in the same academic/calendar year.

For the Grant, an organization is defined as a training center, school or school district, university, journalism education organization or association, or news entity (newspaper, journal, pod-cast, broadcast news organization). Other Entities may be colleges, universities, or research-based companies working in the technical or medical field.

When applying for the grant, the primary applicant may indicate an organization to administer its finances. If the primary applicant chooses to administer the grant’s finances, they are responsible for reporting receipt of this award to the IRS.

The applicant must be a current (on the day of application) member of TTJ.

1. The research should be a collaborative effort.
2. The proposal may include, but is not restricted to, research on the following topics:

• Trauma-informed Curriculum Development and Implementation.
• Social Media’s exposure of journalists to harassment and threats by those who believe journalists are biased.
• The vicarious trauma journalists face as the result of running toward danger and conflict so they can inform the world of events.
• The rise of 21st-century conflicts and terrorism has made journalists targets for terrorist groups.
• Collaboration among organizations in training trauma journalists, which inspires self-help and peer support and establishes networks of colleagues.
• Involvement of at-risk journalism professionals from diverse backgrounds and experiences.
• Coping with secondary stress disorder as a journalist.
• Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS) and the potential effects of working with traumatized individuals, including secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and vicarious traumatization.
• Explore innovative treatments that offer paths to recovery for journalists from trauma.
• Preparing aspiring or working journalists to interview a victim of violence – a grieving parent, a survivor of sexual violence, or a witness at the scene of a traumatic event – and how interviewees should be approached, interviewed, and filmed with sensitivity.
• Ways journalism organizations/programs can prepare today’s journalists to cover traumatic events (i.e., training, tools, support).

(Five pages maximum; double-space; Arial 12 font; 1-inch margin)

Project Plan

• Describe the project, providing a clear picture of the project’s objectives. If the grant impacts others, be specific in detailing the anticipated impact/benefit for each participant group.
• Include a summary of related research literature.
• Include a detailed plan for carrying out the work and a projected timeline for project completion.

Project Outcomes

• Describe how you plan to assess/evaluate the grant’s impact on those populations.
• Describe how the results of the research will be used and shared.

(Two pages maximum; table format)

• Include an itemized budget, presented in line-item table format.
• If the total budget for a proposed project is greater than the grant maximum, indicate clearly what the grant funds will cover and what additional funding sources might be available to complete the total budget.
• Funds may be used for reasonable project expenses, including well-justified stipends for participating researchers and collaborating teachers.
• The acquisition of equipment and conference attendance must support the proposed plan but should not be the grant’s primary focus.
• Funds from other sources should cover primary technology needs.

(One-page maximum vita; outline format preferred)

• Formal education, including institution, type of degree, major, minor, and date each degree was granted.
• Professional experience related to this proposal, including past/current work assignments, teaching assignments, and other pertinent information, including education and professional activities.

(One-page maximum letter)

For Applicants working in the Journalism field, please provide:
1-Letter of Support from your News Editor or Producer
1-Letter of Support from a colleague

Include a one-page maximum letter that:

• Is on official letterhead and signed.
• Confirms the employment status of the applicant.
• Indicates strong support for the proposal and the applicant’s ability to accomplish it.

For Applicants working in the Psychology and Trauma Counseling field, please provide:
1-Letter of Support from Media Organization Supervisor or Producer engaged with the project
1-Letter of Support from a medical colleague

Include a one-page maximum letter that:

• Is on official letterhead and signed.
• Confirms the employment status and credentials of the applicant.
• Indicates strong support for the proposal and the applicant’s ability to accomplish it.

For Applicants working in the Technology and Data Assessment field, please provide:
1-Letter of Support from Media Organization Supervisor or Producer engaged with the project
1-Letter of Support from a technology or data analysist program colleague

Include a one-page maximum letter that:

• Is on official letterhead and signed.
• Confirms the employment status and credentials of the applicant.
• Indicates strong support for the proposal and the applicant’s ability to accomplish it.

For Applicants working for an Educational Institution, please provide:
1-Letter of Support from your Higher Education Institution
1-Letter of Support from a colleague

Include a one-page maximum letter that:

• Is on official school letterhead and signed.
• Confirms the employment/educational status of the applicant.
• Indicates strong support for the university personnel’s collaborative commitment, the project’s potential success, and the applicant’s ability to accomplish it.

Please have your recommenders email their letter as an attachment to trustfortraumajournalism@gmail.com. Ask the sender to include “Ochberg/McClellan Grant” and your name in the email’s subject line.

If you are applying for a grant for a research study that will gather data from human subjects, please include an approved copy of your IRB indicating approval from your university and/or school/district.

If you are applying for a grant for a research study to gather data from vertebrate animal subjects, please include an approved copy of your IACUC indicating approval from your university and/or school/district.

Pay attention to the scoring rubric and organize your application around those rubric targets.

Awardees will be required to submit a brief report (two-signed-spaced pages) and an itemized report of expenses with receipts.

The final report detailing the research results and any anticipated follow-up activities must be filed within three months of the project’s completion, with submission by DATE.

Award notification will be made by DATE.
The total amount of $50,000 will be paid at the beginning of the grant.