Watchdog Writers Group
The Watchdog Writers Group (WWG) is a fellowship program and teaching lab based at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. The WWG has a dual mission: to financially support authors as they write a deeply reported nonfiction book in the public interest, while simultaneously training the next generation of young reporters. The WWG’s fellowship provides established journalists an annual stipend of $50,000 for two years, supporting them as they step away from their day jobs to write a book and conduct the type of time-consuming reporting that often falls through the cracks in over-stressed newsrooms. Their books investigate vital social issues such as the opioid crisis, corporate agribusiness, the coal industry, and systemic inequality.
The WWG partners each fellow with a student who serves as a research and reporting assistant. Students conduct a year-long apprenticeship that teaches them the best practices and ethics of investigative reporting. Students can also participate in a full-time summer reporting program, during which they produce an investigation under their own byline.
The Watchdog Writers Group was launched in 2019 with a three-year, $1.1 million grant from the Schmidt Family Foundation. The WWG is also funded through the generous support of the William T. Kemper Foundation, the Banjo Fund, and the Wolbach Family Foundation.