The registration of PINF, back in 2020, represented something of a breakthrough for the sector, and is still the leading Charity Commission decision on charitable status for public interest news providers, showing other similar organisations how they can obtain it too.
PINF supports high-quality, independent news provision for the benefit of the public. It works with a wide range of investigative journalists, local and national news media and other forms of public interest news.
Watershed Investigations was founded and is run by investigative journalists Leana Hosea and Rachel Salvidge, The organisation has played a leading role in informing the public about abuses of our water systems such as the illegal discharge of raw sewage by water companies, the over-exploitation of off-shore marine resources and the rise in levels of “forever chemicals” in UK rivers and seas.
Watershed’s output is published in an array of UK and international media, including the Guardian, Sunday Times, ITV News and Sky News. In 2023 it deservedly won “highly commended” in the Environment category at the British Journalism Awards. Partly as a result of Watershed’s work, water is now rightly recognised as an important subject of public concern.
We’re hoping this support will be the watershed that leads to many more news providers getting the recognition and funding they deserve, and subsequently reaching even more of us with stories that matter.