Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation

The Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation (EEJF) is a grant-making foundation based in Oklahoma that provides grants to journalism institutions throughout the United States. In 2011, the foundation's assets were $91.1 million and $4 million was distributed in grants.

The EEJF was established in 1982 by Edith Kinney Gaylord. Robert J. Ross has been the President and CEO of the EEJF since 2003.

Mission

The Foundation's mission, according to its website, is "to invest in the future of journalism by building the ethics, skills and opportunities needed to advance principled, probing news and information". It works toward this goal by giving contributions to a variety of journalistic enterprises.

Grant recipients

The Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation has supported over 100 non-profit journalism-oriented organizations. Grant recipients have included:

• Washington Center for Politics & Journalism, Washington D.C. Politics & Journalism Semester
• Youth News Service, Los Angeles Bureau
• Center for Investigative Reporting
• University of California, Berkeley
• Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
• Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
• Student Press Law Center

Notable contributions

The contributions of the Foundation have made an impact in the quality and capability of leading journalism projects nationwide. Some of Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation's most notable sponsorships have been awarded to:

• George Washington University, The Kalb Report
• Georgetown University & The Center for Public Integrity, The Pearl Project
• University of Oklahoma, Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication
• Brandeis University, Judge Brandeis Innocence Project

Founder

Edith Kinney Gaylord was born March 5, 1916 in Oklahoma City to parents Inez and E. K. Gaylord. Her father was editor and publisher of The Oklahoman and The Oklahoma City Times. Edith attended Colorado College in Colorado Springs before graduating from Wells College in Aurora, New York in spring of 1939 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Edith began her journalistic career reporting for her father’s newspaper and radio station in Oklahoma City. In the summer of 1942, she was hired by the Associated Press in New York and was transferred five months later to their Washington, D.C. bureau. She was the first female employee on the general news staff.

She filed stories from New York, Hollywood, San Francisco and Chicago while following Madam Chiang Kai-shek on her tour of America. When first lady Eleanor Roosevelt insisted the AP send a female reporter to cover her news conferences, Edith was assigned to the task.

In 1944, Edith was elected president of the National Women’s Press Club, and served as secretary of Mrs. Roosevelt’s press conference committee and media liaison between her and the press. She also covered other notable events, including the death of Franklin Roosevelt, the new first lady Bess Truman and the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in London.

Edith returned to Oklahoma City and rejoined the family business in 1963, serving as a member of the board of directors and corporate secretary for The Oklahoma Publishing Company.

Edith quietly began her philanthropy efforts in the 1960s, often donating anonymously to those in need. In 1982 she founded both Inasmuch Foundation and Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation to carry out her giving. Robert J. Ross is the current President and CEO of the foundations. Edith became a charter trustee at Colorado College in Colorado Springs and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the college in 1992. The University of Oklahoma also presented Edith with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree in 1997 for her contributions

Edith Kinney Gaylord died Jan. 28, 2001, at St. Anthony’s Hospital in Oklahoma City, the same hospital where she had been born 84 years earlier.

External links

• Website of the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation