Scoop Media announces new foundation for public interest journalism in NZ

In a push to offer new support and momentum for public interest journalism, New Zealand’s independent news provider, Scoop Media, has announced the formation of a charitable trust and internship scheme.

The first initiative, the Scoop Foundation Project, brings Scoop.co.nz together with a group of New Zealand’s leading practitioners of public interest journalism to create a charitable trust to fund investigative journalistic work. The second is the launch of a $5000 Pacific Scoop internship being awarded in conjunction with AUT University’s Pacific Media Centre (PMC).

Scoop Media’s general manager Alastair Thompson, says the idea of a Scoop Foundation for Public Interest Journalism has been percolating for some considerable time. He says the project is a natural extension to the role Scoop has played in the New Zealand media scene since it first arrived in June 1999.

“A new foundation for public interest journalism is a natural fit for Scoop, and there certainly appears to be a call for one,” says Thompson. “Supporting a community of journalists in pursuit of public interest reporting has always been at the core of what Scoop is all about.