Originally published by: Klein College of Media and Communication, Temple University
Originally published on: July 20, 2021

Temple University's Klein College of Media and Communication will soon launch a Center for Urban Investigative Reporting, thanks to a $1.2 million founding grant from the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation of Berkeley, California.

The Jonathan Logan Family Foundation Center for Urban Investigative Reporting will focus exclusively on the issues facing Philadelphia and other large American cities, including gun violence, economic inequality, education and health disparities, crumbling infrastructure and eroding trust in institutions. Through the Logan Center, Klein students and faculty will report aggressively not only on these problems, but on potential solutions, closely examining what has worked well in other cities across the nation and the globe.

Klein has long had a "teaching hospital" model for preparing students for careers in journalism and other communications professions, giving them a strong foundation in theory and research along with myriad opportunities to hone their skills on campus and in the community. Through the college's Philadelphia Neighborhoods capstone class, students report from areas of Philadelphia that are largely overlooked by mainstream media.

The college has also worked closely with community groups to form news and information websites in Kensington and Germantown. Temple University Television, housed within Klein, provides student-produced news and other public-service programming available on cable systems throughout the city.

Now, Klein students will have more resources to dig beneath the surface of the city's stories. At the same time, said Klein Dean David Boardman, the Logan Center will aim to redefine investigative reporting so that it is more equitable, inclusive, community-focused and solutions-oriented.

"Through this generous grant, our students will not only graduate with impressive investigative skills, they will be producing important work while they learn," said Boardman, a former president of the Investigative Reporters and Editors international organization. 

That work, Boardman said, will appear not only on Temple sites, but also in local publications large and small through new partnerships. The college will be hiring two experienced journalists to teach and work side-by-side with students. 

"We're thrilled to be partnering with Temple University's Klein College of Media and Communication to train smart young journalists in urban investigative reporting, not only to expose problems but also to report on promising solutions that can really make a difference in people's lives," said Jonathan Logan, President of the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation.

"Dean David Boardman and I have known one another for more than forty years. His leadership in newsrooms has been brilliant, and his reputation in the field of investigative journalism is unparalleled. He and his team at Temple share our commitment to equity and inclusion in journalism. They have built a great program and I know they have what it takes to make this new program impactful and successful." 

About Klein College of Media and Communication

Klein's vision is to shape media and media-creators through a dynamic combination of academic rigor and practical training in the context of a diverse urban media market. 

Klein fosters media solutions, innovation and discourse through its faculty, composed of both world-class scholars and renowned practitioners. With this variety of thought coursing through the college, discussions are at the cutting edge of the ever-changing communication industry. Located in the heart of Philadelphia, faculty and students are able to directly apply this knowledge to one of the nation's largest media communities.

Klein aims to educate students to be ethical, critical and inventive leaders, producers and citizens in a multimedia and multicultural society. When Klein students graduate, they have not only acquired a variety of skills and abilities, but have become discerners of truth and meaning prepared to bring precision and creativity into the workplace.

About the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation

The Jonathan Logan Family Foundation supports organizations that advance social justice by empowering world-changing work in investigative journalism, documentary film, arts and culture. The foundation's investigative journalism partners include the 2021 Pulitzer Prize-honored International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and the Invisible Institute, 2021 George Foster Peabody Award winner Frontline on PBS and Reveal/Center for Investigative Reporting. This is the organization's first grant to Temple University.