Shannon McGarvey Awarded Fund for Investigative Journalism Grant for Podcast Series

I’ve been awarded a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism to support an investigative podcast series I’m currently reporting.

Today, the FIJ announced 70 new grants to journalists across the country—the largest funding cycle in the organization’s 57-year history. I’m honored to be part of this group.

Why This Matters

I came to investigative journalism because of what it can do when it’s working at its best: hold institutions accountable, surface stories that might otherwise go untold, and challenge the narratives we tend to accept without question.

Audio is where I do that work. A voice carries something text can’t. So does silence. The hesitation before an answer. The shift in tone when something lands. Investigative audio journalism allows for a kind of proximity—bringing listeners into the story in a way that feels immediate, human, and at times, uncomfortable in the right ways.

This grant is practical support, but it’s also something else: a signal that this kind of work still has a place, and still matters in a time when free speech, independent news, and local journalism are threatened.

About the FIJ

The Fund for Investigative Journalism is one of the longest-running supporters of independent accountability reporting in the U.S. It funds investigative work across formats—print, broadcast, podcasts, documentary film—and provides access to legal support through the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, as well as editorial guidance from veteran reporters.

That this is their largest funding cycle to date says something about the moment we’re in: the demand for investigative journalism continues to grow, even as the systems that sustain it become more fragile.

I’m grateful to be supported by an organization that’s been investing in this kind of work for decades.