The Moth, and Center for Investigative Reporting, win MacArthur grants

Two public media entities are recipients of MacArthur Foundation Awards for Creative and Effective Institutions, announced today (Feb. 16). The Center for Investigative Reporting at University of California, Berkeley, will use its $1 million award to “create a venture fund for new projects, strengthen its fundraising capacity, upgrade its technology infrastructure, and establish a reserve fund for legal defense.” And the Moth, the nonprofit behind the storytelling Moth Radio Hour, will spend its $750,000 to “expand its radio program into a regular, weekly Radio Hour, create a radio archive to distribute past content, and create a cash reserve to support better planning and organizational stability.” The show came to public radio via a five-episode pilot series from PRX nearly three years ago (Current, Sept. 8, 2009).