Philadelphia Enterprise Reporting Fund awards grants to Technically Philly and NEast Philly

I’m proud to say that I’ll have a small part in three of the fourteen inaugural reporting projects funded by the Philadelphia Enterprise Reporting Fund, as announced Tuesday.

Funded by the William Penn Foundation and administered by J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism, a center of American University’s School of Communication in Washington, D.C, the $5,000 micro-grant awardees were based on recommendations from an April 2010 report by J-Lab.

The fund has a focus on collaboration, so technology news site Technically Philly is partnering with development news site PlanPhilly and alt-weekly City Paper on one and just PlanPhilly on a second. NEast Philly is working with Temple University’s noted capstone course Philadelphia Neighborhoods on its proposal.

Read more about the three projects I’ll be a part of below and find the entire list of awardees here.

• The Abandoned City. The City of Philadelphia is the largest owner of abandoned properties in the city. The City Paper, working with PlanPhilly.com and TechnicallyPhilly.com, will compile the first publicly accessible master list and interactive database of these properties and examine how they came to be owned by taxpayers and why they are not being sold or redeveloped.
• Broadband2035. A look at the economic impact of broadband connectivity – or lack thereof – in three diverse city neighborhoods to help inform the development of Philadelphia’s 2035 strategic plan now in the works. By TechnicallyPhilly.com working with PlanPhilly.com.
• Neighborhood Development, Politics and their Relationship. An examination of the revitalization of a commercial corridor in Northeast Philadelphia’s Mayfair neighborhood and any ties to a local politician awaiting trial on corruption charges. By NEast Philly and Temple University’s PhiladelphiaNeighborhoods.com.

Funding and reporting should get under way later this year, all three of the projects are expected for roughly six months.