FOOD AND ENVIRONMENT REPORTING NETWORK

Through impartial, unbiased, fact-based “watchdog" impact journalism from experienced reporters, we seek to reveal corruption, abuse of power, and exploitation and to expose activities and subjects that are hidden or often ignored. The Food & Environment Reporting Network uncovers and explores news critical to the public's right to know about food, agriculture, and environmental health.

FERN primarily produces in-depth and investigative longform news articles and functions as a full-service news organization. FERN's process includes planning, contracting with journalists, providing editorial oversight and negotiating distribution agreements with mainstream publications. FERN supports its written reports with infographics and other visualizations, social media activity, through radio and television broadcast collaborations, and live events. FERN rigorously tracks the impact of its stories using a range of metrics. We follow strict ethical guidelines in our news-gathering and publishing to assure that our reporting is grounded in accuracy, impartiality and reasoned analysis. FERN operates free from hidden agendas or biases and preserves total editorial independence by maintaining a strict firewall among funders, the Board of Directors, and our editorial operations.

FERN has worked with over 41 freelance writers to commission and produce 70 stories that have appeared in 34 outlets. FERN is a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News, the primary industry association for non-profit news organizations, and has built key partnerships with other non-profit news organizations like the Center for Investigative Reporting and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

FERN has established itself as a trusted source for news and is a 2013, 2015, and 2018 James Beard Award Winner and a 2014 James Beard Award nominee for its reporting on Food Politics, Policy and the Environment, as well as a 2014 winner of the IACP award for “Writing that Makes a Difference." In addition, FERN was specifically acknowledged by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism in its "State of the News Media 2013" as one of a handful of new non-profit journalism ventures beginning to emerge “that could advance citizens' knowledge about public issues."

In aggregate, our stories have reached over 100 million Americans. We expect to continue releasing hard-hitting long-form news stories and to support our stories with strong promotional campaigns. We will continue to work with freelance journalists with no plans to create a permanently staffed newsroom. We see the advantages of engaging a multiplicity of voices as we expand our coverage. We have repeatedly demonstrated an ability to deliver high-impact journalism that reaches a large audience. In the last year alone, several of our stories have helped spur policy changes at the international, national, and state levels. Our collaborative distribution model gives us the rare ability to reach audiences who are not already exposed to or familiar with the issues bound up in food and agriculture.

Our goal is to produce more long-form stories covering regional issues over the as well as to produce dedicated regional policy reporting to be distributed through our Ag Insider subscription service. We cover local issues in ways that get at or speak to, broader issues of systemic breakdown, degradation, mitigation, and reform. We thus achieve impact both regionally and nationally. While we will seek out local publication partners, we will continue to prioritize national publications. production of data journalism with a state-level focus in our interest areas.