Humanities and Social Sciences
Australian Centre for Independent Journalism

Research

Research Grants

The ACIJ has a fund to support research, journalism and scholarship by members of the Centre. Membership is open to all who subscribe to the Centre's mission (see below). Membership is free to permanent, adjunct and casual staff and current students of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at UTS, and costs $22 per annum to others.

The purpose of this fund is to support research and reporting that combines journalism with academic scholarship. Collaborative applications involving academics, journalists and students are especially encouraged, and members who are interested in joining collaborative research teams can register an Expression of Interest with the Centre. We especially invite senior students to be assistants and collaborators on research projects. The students should be final year undergraduates or postgraduates with a Credit average or better, and will work on these projects under the auspices of the Work Experience or Journalism Attachment programs in the Faculty.

Projects seeking support should exemplify the mission of the ACIJ, and applicants should lodge a funding application (144Kb,PDF). Successful applications for funding will demonstrate an achievable commitment to two publication outcomes: a refereed scholarly publication (eg article, book chapter) and journalistic publication under a recognised masthead (in any medium). Failure to achieve both these outcomes in a project will invalidate future applications for support from this fund.

Applications should include a clear statement of the journalistic and scholarly merits of the project, the proposed research activities and anticipated outcomes, a project plan, a detailed budget and the intended outlets for publication (with evidence of interest from those outlets where available). 

The total amount available for disbursement in 2008 is yet to be determined.  However, the 2007 levels of grants will act as a guide to 2008.

In 2007 there were three levels of grants:

Applications for funds will be considered for approval by a committee comprising the Director of the ACIJ (Chair); a senior academic from the Journalism Program; an external member of the ACIJ Advisory Board; the Associate Dean of Research in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS). Applicants will be advised about the outcome of their research applications in the next few weeks.  

Director:
Tony Maniaty
Phone: (02) 9514 2312
Email: Tony Maniaty

Mission

The ACIJ supports independent journalism as a foundation stone for social and political democracy. Journalism is a public service, and journalists are accountable to the public for the quality of their professional practice. Journalism has a social responsibility to be independent of vested interests, critical in its inquiry and of the highest standard to earn its place as an independent force in public life. The journalist's task is to accurately inform the public, in detail, and without fear or favour, about the way in which their society actually works. This is the journalism of democracy.

The aim of the Centre is to foster the promotion of journalism of the highest quality. The Centre will extend public access to quality journalism via publications in all media, including online media and public forums, on issues that are of interest and importance to the public. The Centre will encourage the participation of students in its activities to encourage their development as producers of high quality journalism. It will seek involvement in its activities from throughout the university community.

The Centre will be engaged in the production of journalism, research into journalistic practice and professional development activities for journalists and journalism students. The Centre will concentrate on the production of investigative journalism, defined as broadly as possible, that involves comprehensive research, deals with subjects that are in the public interest, that is accurate and independent of vested interest.

The Centre will engage reporters and associates who are interested in producing journalism that reveals the complex, multi-faceted nature of Australian society, and its position as a Pacific Rim nation, in an independent and critical fashion. The Centre will invite esteemed journalists to take up research positions or other attachments to the Centre, provide opportunities for Australian and international journalists and journalism students to become affiliates, and support professional development activities that enrich the expertise of Australian journalists.

The Centre will undertake research into journalistic practice. The research program will be broad-ranging, and will encourage and explore the application of the methodologies, skills and techniques of the arts, humanities and social sciences to journalism and the work of journalists. This accumulating body of research will help to foster the production of journalism of the highest standard, and inform the teaching of journalism. Through publications, conferences and seminars it will provide new opportunities for journalists, academics and students, those involved in public life and the public to reflect on the role and nature of the work of journalists and the media, and its impact on the community.

In order to facilitate the production of academic research into journalistic practice, the Centre will apply for funding from appropriate granting bodies. It will also answer calls to tender for research projects commissioned by government agencies or private companies, but only where those research projects do not conflict with the Centre's mission.