The City University of New York's Graduate School of Journalism is launching a five-year effort to improve state and local fiscal reporting, funded with a major gift from New York civic leader Richard Ravitch.
Ravitch, New York's former lieutenant governor, is an advisor to Judge Stephen Rhodes on Detroit's bankruptcy and was a major player in fixing New York State and New York City financial crises in the mid-1970s. He is also a former chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The Ravitch Fiscal Reporting Program will offer fully funded fellowships for state and local reporters to attend one-week advanced training sessions at the CUNY Journalism School. The program will also host two-day seminars on topical fiscal issues and create a community of journalists specializing in the issue. The first training session is scheduled for the week of Aug. 18 at the J-School.
The goal is to improve the public's understanding of, and interest in, the fiscal challenges localities face and their policy implications, CUNY reported on its website June 10.
"The nation and its states have made social commitments that are admirable but exceed the government's current financial resources," said Ravitch. "There are certain to be more fiscal crises like those in Detroit, yet there is very little sustained coverage of the problem and its consequences."
