VoP earns J-Lab grant

By Voice of Philly

A $5000 grant will assist Voice of Philadelphia’s efforts to transform journalism in the city.

VoP and its partner, PhillyCam, was among 14 Philadelphia-area winners of the 2010 Philadelphia Enterprise Reporting Grant, which is sponsored by J-Lab, the Institute for Interactive Journalism.

VoP and PhillyCam will use the grant to fund a project entitled Drop Zone. The effort, which will involve local youth affiliated with YESPhilly, will investigate why young men of color leave school.

Aside from reporting, the project will allow VoP to engage in one of its other long-term goals – the training of citizen journalists.

“We are honored to work with PhillyCAM and YESPhilly on this important effort. More importantly, we are thrilled to have the opportunity to give journalism back to the citizens. Dr. (Murali) Balaji and I are not the Voice of Philadelphia. The citizens of this great city are the real Voice of Philadelphia,” said Letrell Crittenden, VoP’s executive editor.

Funding for the grant was provided by the William Penn Foundation. Only 14 out of 27 applicants received the award.

“The depth and breadth of the ideas submitted were impressive,” said Jan Schaffer, director of J-Lab. “And it’s clear the proposal process got new-media and old-media makers talking to one another about partnering on the projects.”

Other winners include Voice of Philadelphia partners WHYY, The Philadelphia School Notebook and WPEB-FM.