The Indiana Publisher

Page 2 September 2018 IU Media School gets $6 million gift for investigative reporting center Arika Herro Indianapolis Star The Media School at Indiana University will launch a center for investigative reporting next fall, with the help of a $6 million gift — the largest in the history of the century-old journalism program. The Michael I. Arnolt Center for Investi- gative Journalism will open in the fall of 2019 thanks to the donation from Arnolt, a 1967 graduate of IU Bloomington now living in Indianapolis. "We are all immensely grateful to Michael Arnolt for this gift," said IU Bloomington Provost and Executive Vice President Lauren Robel, in a news release. "Investigative journalism is critical to a healthy democracy and healthy civil society. We need to ensure that we continue to give future journalists the education and the tools to work in our communities so we can be better- informed, better-equipped citizens. This gift makes that possible at The Media School." The center will conduct multimedia investigative reporting on issues of importance to the residents of Indiana, including matters that reach beyond the state's borders. The work will be available at no cost to local, regional and national news outlets and will seek to supplement their reporting at a time when many are losing newsroom staff, according to the university. The center will serve not only as an investigative reporting outlet but also as a training ground for IU's graduate and undergraduate journalism students, explained James Shanahan, dean of The Media School. "We're seeing these kinds of things at other universities," Shanahan said. "It's a movement, I think, that will help address the continued need for strong investigative journalism." Shanahan said he had been thinking about a project of this sort when he arrived at IU in 2015. Arnolt was one of the first people he met, Shanahan said, and they began talking about the idea. Arnolt, who had worked as a journalist for several years early in his professional life, said it resonated with him immediately. "It has always been a part of my thought process that should I be able to, I'd like to find a way to do something within what was the school of journalism," Arnolt said. "After Jim Shanahan and I started talking about the possibility of creating a center for investigative journalism, that just jumped right out at me. "I just knew that was where I thought that I could do something that would make a difference." The donation, a portion of which will be matched, will help get the center off the ground and cover start up costs, like hiring a director. The search for the center's leader begins immediately. The gift will also cover scholarships for up to four graduate students and scholar- ships for as many as 10 undergraduates. Arnolt started his own journalism career at The Elkhart Truth. He only spent a few years working as a reporter before leaving to help out his family business. He became the co-founder of Graston Technique, a physical therapy method adopted by clinicians, outpatient clinics, university advanced degree teaching programs and sports organizations but has remained invested in the journalism industry throughout his life. He serves on the dean's advisory board for The Media School and currently volunteers at IndyStar's Call for Action consumer hotline. "The ink still runs through my veins," Arnolt said. Arnolt Member newspapers: Check out hspa.com for news, info, job listings & more.

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