For Immediate Release: June 22, 2026
Contact: Solitary Watch, grants@solitarywatch.org

WASHINGTON, DC—Solitary Watch today announced the expansion of a years-long initiative to increase and support original reporting on the use and effects of solitary confinement in the U.S. carceral system.

Solitary Watch is now accepting applications for grants to support original reporting on this critical issue, which affects hundreds of thousands of incarcerated people each year. We welcome proposals from both seasoned and emerging journalists, as well as from reporting teams and nonprofit newsrooms, for local, national, or thematic reporting projects, including investigative, data-driven, and multimedia work.

As the nation’s only newsroom focused on solitary confinement, Solitary Watch seeks to support a wide range of other journalists reporting on this largely hidden practice and its consequences. Our longstanding commitment to cultivate and grow the community of journalists covering  prison conditions is at the core of our mission: To shine light into the darkest corners of the U.S. criminal legal system.

Grant awards range from $1,000 to $3,000, and can be used toward reporting expenses and reporter stipends. We will review applications on a quarterly basis. In addition to project funding, this new program will provide grantees access to the resources, insights, and experience developed through Solitary Watch’s sixteen years of leading-edge coverage of the issue.

The next application deadline is July 31. For application details and eligibility requirements, please see the project guidelines.

Please note that these grants are intended for journalists working outside of prisons. Incarcerated journalists should apply through our separate program, The Ridgeway Reporting Project.

Questions? Contact grants@solitarywatch.org.

Our grant programs for journalists are funded through the generosity of the Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation and the Vital Projects Fund.

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