Comprehensive Documentary-Journalism Resource Guide for Filmmakers Launches

March 1, 2018 (Los Angeles, CA) - Today, the International Documentary Association and National Endowment for the Arts, in partnership with the Jonathan B. Murray Center for Documentary Journalism at the University of Missouri, announced the creation of a resource guide for documentary filmmakers working on journalistic projects. The guide, “Mapping the Documentary-Journalism Landscape,” is now available on University of Missouri’s website.

“When the Enterprise Fund was launched, we were committed to creating tangible documentary-journalism resources for all nonfiction storytellers,” said Carrie Lozano, Director of IDA’s Enterprise Documentary Fund. “Thanks to our collaboration with Stacey Woelfel, his students at the University of Missouri, and the NEA, we're one step closer to making that a reality. So much valuable information already exists, but how do you know what you don't know? We hope this resource is a step toward guiding filmmakers in the right direction." 

The guide is designed to help filmmakers find information and make decisions that journalists make every day. Whether it be questions of what rights the First Amendment guarantees, what rights to privacy people can expect or what ethical decisions must be made when telling the stories of someone else’s life, the guide lays out a way to find that information. Each section begins with a brief summary of the topic, highlighting the main points to know and detailing some specific steps a filmmaker might take when encountering issues related to that subject matter.  Following the summary, there are links to additional resources to learn more about the topic, read additional opinions or different points of view or find forms or other tools to facilitate field work.

“The Jonathan B. Murray Center for Documentary Journalism was founded to educate young professionals entering the documentary field in the ways that the science of journalism can aid the art of the documentary,” said Stacey Woelfel, director of the Murray Center. “This partnership with the IDA and NEA to build a permanent guide for filmmakers to find answers to their journalistic questions is a natural next step for our program. We’re excited to be a part of this initiative and welcome the chance to work to grow this guide into a resource that all filmmakers will find indispensable.”

Access the resource guide by visiting https://docjournalism.com/map/