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Capital City Fund for Investigative Journalism

Stories

National Park Service Has Neglected Anacostia Park

Unsafe playground equipment. Crumbling roads and trails. Burned picnic tables and rusted, inoperable water dispensers.
Matthew McClure, published 08/11/26
Spotlight funded
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Across the site

Podcast: The Socialist Sweep in D.C.'s Primaries

Inside Janeese Lewis Georges's sweeping mayoral primary victory and why Kenyan McDuffie’s campaign never found its footing
Cuneyt Dil and Tom Sherwood, published 06/23/26
Spotlight funded
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Thumbnail of a YouTube version of the Dream City podcast. The photo has a red tint showing mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George. The headline reads in large text, "Socialists sweep." In the bottom right corner, text reads: "Election analysis".

D.C. has a food access problem. Advocates say Bowser’s budget would make it worse.

The mayor proposed eliminating an office that has helped low-income students access food over the summer and made it easier to start farmers markets.
Sam Delgado, published 06/10/26
Spotlight funded
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D.C. Court System Faces Mounting Backlog Crisis

This backlog leaves victims waiting for justice, defendants trapped in legal limbo, and families across the District facing mounting instability in housing, probate, custody, and other cases.
Stacy M. Brown, published 06/08/26
Spotlight funded
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Our Goal

SpotlightDC seeks to ensure robust, accountability journalism covering the nation’s capital city. An independent, non-profit based in Washington, D.C., we award grants for groundbreaking, original, fair-minded, investigative, accountability and explanatory journalism projects focused on the District of Columbia and its surrounding region. 

We will invest in high-impact, deeply reported projects that shed light on underreported subjects, hold the powerful to account and serve the public interest. We also aim to encourage and cultivate a diverse pool of journalists devoted to covering the national capital region. We will promote their work for maximum impact with a variety of print, broadcast and digital media partners who will publish their work.
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