When the calendar turns over into the new year, The Huffington Post Investigative Fund will merge with The Center for Public Integrity to establish one of the nation’s largest investigative newsrooms.  On Jan. 1, 2011, the two organizations will combine their staffs, raising the total number of journalists at the Center for Public Integrity to over 50. 

According to HuffPo’s press release, the partnership will form a well-rounded editorial team of “award-winning journalists, computer-aided reporting experts, and digital media producers.”  HuffPo’s editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington revealed her motives for the merger:

“When we launched the Huffington Post Investigative Fund a year and a half ago, we set out to build a hybrid model for the future of investigative journalism – aligning a nonprofit journalism center with a large publishing platform. It exceeds all our expectations that we are so quickly able to scale up our small investigative fund by merging with a powerhouse like the Center.  Too often, important stories are only covered after things go bad, as happened with the war in Iraq and the economic crisis.  We need more stories uncovered before disaster strikes.  I believe this partnership will help with this great project of uncovering.”

In addition to providing funding for this project, The Huffington Post has agreed to publish up to three of the Center’s stories each day.  These posts will be found in a section on the site designated for investigative reporting. 

HuffPo’s Investigative Fund employees joining The Center for Public Integrity include: Editor Keith Epstein, Executive Director Nick Penniman, and reporters Ben Protess, David Heath, Fred Schulte, Emma Schwartz, and health care analyst Wendell Potter.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The Knight Foundation has contributed $200,000 the HuffPost Fund, becoming one of its key donors along with the Schumann Center for Media and Democracy, Atlantic Philanthropies, the Markle Foundation and HuffPost itself.

Since the announcement of its creation earlier this year, the Washington, D.C.-based HuffPost Investigative Fund has hired 11 full-time staffers, including executive director Nick Penniman, former publisher of Washington Monthly, and former Washington Post editor Lawrence Roberts, who is serving as the fund’s executive editor. HuffPost’s editor-in-chief, Arianna Huffington, is leading the non-profit’s board. Said Huffington:

“Knight’s grant is an important milestone in the young history of The Huffington Post Investigative Fund. We’re incredibly grateful to Alberto Ibargüen and Eric Newton of Knight Foundation for their passion for championing innovative solutions in the face of the crisis facing investigative journalism. Everyone who understands the vital role good journalism plays in our democracy is looking for ways to preserve and strengthen it during this time of great transition for the media, and Knight is playing a lead role in this effort.”

Full release after the jump

Previously: HuffPo Investigative Fund Gets Ready For Action

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

When the non-profit venture was announced last March, it promised to “produce a broad range of investigative journalism created by both staff reporters and freelance writers, with a focus on working with the many experienced reporters and writers impacted by the economic contraction.”

With it’s $1.75 million budget, provided by The Huffington Post and The Atlantic Philanthropies, the site already has some pieces up about the Bank of America bailout, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner‘s housing situation and health care.

In his introduction to the site, executive director Nick Penniman, founder of The American News Project, said the goal of the fund is to “merge the classic watchdog function of the press with the best tools of new media.”

“As financial pressures decimate the investigative reporting ranks at newspapers, magazines and TV stations, we are joining the movement to build new structures and ways of doing investigative journalism.”

We’re eager to see what sorts of investigative stories the I-Fund will pump out. And it will probably work to combat those critics who claim that HuffPo is destroying journalism.

Earlier: Washington Post Investigations Editor Named Exec Editor For HuffPo’s Investigative Fund

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

According to the release, the venture will “produce a broad range of investigative journalism created by both staff reporters and freelance writers, with a focus on working with the many experienced reporters and writers impacted by the economic contraction.” The project has a $1.75 million budget, and is being funded by The Huffington Post and The Atlantic Philanthropies, and will be headed by Nick Penniman, founder of The American News Project, which will be folded into the Investigative Fund. Jay Rosen will serve as a senior advisor.

Says Arianna: “The importance of investigative journalism cannot be overstated — especially during our tumultuous times — and we are delighted to be creating an initiative whose goal is to produce stories that will have a real impact both nationally and locally.” She gives more details here. And for those of you wondering, Jay Rosen seems to suggest in his Twitter that unlike HuffPo’s bloggers the reporters involved in this venture will be paid. Full release is after the jump.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.