By Carly Willsie | Logan Nonfiction Program Manager
For four years now, the Logan Nonfiction Program has supported long-form, independent journalists from around the world reporting on the most pressing issues of our times. With each year, we’ve expanded our impact and strengthened our mission—2018 brought a record number of books and documentaries, honors for our fellows, new partnerships, increased advocacy in the industry at large for the program and a great increase in the number and quality of applicants.
The foundation of our work lies in fellowship—creating communities of support for independent journalists to ensure the completion and publication of deeply researched and ethically uncompromised books, articles and films. In 2018, we supported 31 nonfiction writers, photojournalists, filmmakers and multimedia creators. Our 2018 Logan fellows came to the campus of the Carey Institute for Global Good from 10 countries from around the world and worked on a diverse range of topics, including elder rights, big data, Islamophobia post-9/11, the citizen science movement, the state of mental healthcare in America and more.
Logan alumni published 10 books this year, including six that were reviewed in the New York Times—two of which were ultimately featured on the Times’s 100 Notable Books of 2018 list with one on the 10 Best Books of the year. Fellows’ work was honored with a number of awards and prominent media appearances, including on The Daily Show, Democracy Now!, PBS NewsHour and Fresh Air, among others.
We also convened a comprehensive summit on sustaining resiliency in journalists reporting under threat. Representatives of 19 organizations from around the world gathered for two days of focused discussion about the longer-term needs of journalists whose work has been interrupted by direct violence or persecution, the threat of violence or persecution or uncommon trauma experienced in the line of their work. A major outcome of the conference was the formation of a collaborative working group among the Logan Nonfiction Program, the Committee to Protect Journalists and Internews whose purpose is to assess the scale of need and map available opportunities to journalists working under threat.
The Logan Nonfiction Program’s presence at the the Carey Institute helps bring some of the world’s most creative, successful and innovative nonfiction creators to Rensselaerville. In 2018 the Carey Institute hosted retreats and conferences by Sundance, The War Horse, Internews, the Global Reporting Centre and True/False. We also welcomed Sheri Fink, New York Times correspondent and Logan Nonfiction board member, to the Institute for a week of independent work. Our partnership with NeXt Doc brought 16 emerging documentary filmmakers of color to our campus for five days of intensive masterclasses, workshops, film screenings and critical explorations of power.
Thank you to the fellows, alumni, advisory board, donors and friends, like you, who helped us celebrate our most successful year yet—especially to our major donor, Jonathan Logan, without whose vision we would not exist. We look forward to continuing our support of independent journalists and the vital stories they tell in 2019.
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