InvestigateWest's mission

What happened to one young woman who reported being sexually assaulted on a college athletic club trip illustrates a culture of indifference and denial that permeates this issue, a report by InvestigateWest has found.

 Emily Lorenzen turned to administrators for help, but found a lack of concern and a desire to protect the university, she says, and claims the college investigation and disciplinary process victimized her again. But the experience spurred her father, then head of the board of higher education in the state of Oregon, to begin making changes in that state that could have long-ranging impact for young victims like Emily in the future.

InvestigateWest journalists also tell the stories of other victims who sought help on campuses in the Pacific Northwest, and of a growing trend in which alleged perpetrators sue for damages after being accused. With one in five college women sexually assaulted, according to a federal study, it’s a problem that must be addressed.

“Our reporting found that often young women and their families go through a frustrating search for justice,” said Rita Hibbard, executive director and editor of InvestigateWest. “With sometimes unclear and conflicted college disciplinary systems, the original injury can be compounded and lives can be derailed for years to come. We hope that as more light is shed on this issue, stronger and better solutions will emerge.”

It's a big accomplishment for InvestigateWest. Our Olympic gold. We're happy to announce we've been awarded a $100,000 grant from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation to continue to do the hard-hitting, regional investigative work we're becoming known for. It's gold, and of Olympic quality, because in this economic climate, it's that hard to come by. And it recognizes true accomplishment in the field of independent, nonprofit journalism.  So forgive us for being a little self-congratulatory before we get back to our hard work. Congratulations to the journalists of InvestigateWest who brought us this far -- Robert McClure and Carol Smith, Kristen Millares Young and Daniel Lathrop. Nice job, everyone! And thanks to the many folks who have supported us out of the goodness of their hearts and wallets over this first 10 months of our lives. And to the good folks at the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation -- to CEO and President Bob Ross and Senior Program Officer Nancy Hodgkinson, and to Sue Hale, who provided valuable insight at the early stages of this long process when we met way back at an Investigative Reporters and Editors conference in June 2009. The Foundation, based in Oklahoma City and founded  in 1982 by journalist Edith Kinney Gaylord to improve the quality and ethical standards of journalism, has long invested in improving the quality of journalism and journalism education nationwide. This year, it dedicated a portion of its funds specifically to investigative journalism. “The watchdog role of legacy media is in jeopardy due to the economic crisis facing the journalism industry,” Ross said.

InvestigateWest's mission is to make sure investigative journalism continues, despite a cratering news industry that has seen massive layoffs among newspapers and other news organizations and budget cutbacks that have seriously curtailed the depth of coverage among remaining staff.

And we continue to get recognized as among a small vanguard of media organizations leading the way toward an evolving future.

When national Associated Press business writer Andrew Vanacore wrote recently about whether investigative journalism can continue in nonprofit organizations as cutbacks occur in the for-profit model, he interviewed the big players in the independent scene - ProPublica based in New York, the Center for Investigative Reporting in California and the Center for Public Integrity in Washington, D.C., and InvestigateWest in Seattle. The difference is that ProPublica has a newsroom budget of $10 million, most of it coming from the Sandler Foundation, backed by financiers Herbert and Marion Sandler. CPI and CIR are veterans of the nonprofit, investigative world, having done their good work for 20 years or more. InvestigateWest is an upstart, six months old, scrappy and working hard to earn its keep.

Andrew and I talked a few days before InvestigateWest reporter Robert McClure had a story featured on msnbc.com, which drew 400,000 pageviews during its time in the lead position on Jan. 12.