CINCINNATI – The Scripps Howard Foundation is extending its support for the Howard Centers for Investigative Journalism with two grants totaling $11 million over the next three years. The funding will allow the Howard Centers at Arizona State University and the University of Maryland to continue teaching students the skills needed to become top investigative journalists. 
Established in 2018, the Howard Centers honor the legacy of Roy W. Howard, former chairman of the Scripps-Howard newspaper chain and a pioneering news reporter. Apart from these two new grants, the Foundation has provided a total of $13 million to the Howard Centers since their inception, enabling the schools to establish investigative training programs and pilot several artificial intelligence tools that support local news.
“The Howard Centers are leaders in developing investigative journalists, earning national recognition for their investigative work and training programs,” said Mike Canan, senior director of journalism strategies for the Scripps Howard Foundation. “They are producing the next generation of investigative reporters while also producing difference-making journalism.”
Professional organizations including The Associated Press have invited students from ASU and UMD to collaborate on major investigations, such as ‘Lethal Restraint,’ which received a 2025 Edward R. Murrow Award and was named a finalist for a 2025 Pulitzer Prize.
Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University
The Foundation has awarded the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University a $5.7 million grant to expand the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism and significantly grow its impact at the local, regional and national levels.
The funding will launch a suite of major new initiatives, including a statewide accountability reporting effort called The Beam; a national Inclusive Excellence in Journalism Fellowship, designed to expand access to investigative training; and an expansion of Cronkite’s investigative curriculum, graduate training and newsroom partnerships.
View a collection of work from ASU’s Howard Center.
Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland
The Foundation awarded the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism a $5.5 million grant. The funding will be used to increase the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism’s national footprint and impact by creating a national data hub for journalists, academics, policymakers and civil society organizations.
The grant will allow the Center to expand the number of its investigative fellows and increase their scholarship support. It also will allow the Center to fully incorporate artificial intelligence and open-source intelligence reporting and broaden students’ investigative storytelling techniques to include more data visualizations, documentaries and social media content to help reach new audiences.
View a collection of work from UMD’s Howard Center.
Media contact: Molly Miossi, 513-977-3713, [email protected]
About the Scripps Howard Foundation
The Scripps Howard Foundation is a private foundation established in 1962 to advance charitable causes important to The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) and the Scripps and Howard families. The Foundation is dedicated to creating informed and engaged communities through journalism education.