NEW YORK, July 13, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Report
for America announced today that applications are now open for news
organizations interested in hosting more than 300 emerging
journalists in their newsrooms for up to three years, beginning
next June.
Report for America is a national service program that places
talented journalists into local newsrooms to report on
under-covered issues and communities. The program recruits
journalists and pays half the salary, up to $20,000. The other half is split between the host
news organization and local donors. Report for America is an
initiative of The GroundTruth Project.
"Report for America provides a unique opportunity for newsrooms
to bring journalists on staff at a time when the need for local,
trusted news is more important than ever," said Norman Parish, director of recruitment for
Report for America. "Through our support, news organizations are
better positioned to cover the issues that matter most within their
own communities."
The application deadline is September 30,
2020, and newsrooms will be publicly announced in December.
Attentive to the budgeting and fundraising needs of some newsrooms,
an early decision will be made for those who apply by Aug. 31. More information about how the program
works can be found here.
All local news organizations—nonprofit or commercial—are
eligible to apply. The application asks newsrooms to identify
specific gaps in coverage in the community, drawing attention to
under-covered communities or issues. It also requires applicants to
craft a beat that would seek to address those gaps. Newsrooms are
encouraged to consider sponsoring multiple journalists.
Currently, Report for America has 225 corps members at more than
160 local news organizations in 46 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. These include daily and weekly
newspapers, digital-only news outlets, radio and television
stations. Next year, the initiative aims to place 350 emerging
journalists with local newsrooms in every state.
The reporters are chosen after a rigorous national competition.
Some 1,800 applied this past year for a few hundred open slots.
Corps members already in the program are award-winning,
multi-talented journalists who reflect the diverse communities they
serve. Forty-two percent of the corps are journalists of color and
70 percent are women. They're tackling some of the most important
issues facing Americans today, including the ongoing COVID-19
pandemic, health care, education, minority and immigration issues,
economic development, elections and local government.
The effort is part of a larger goal of Report for America to
reinvent local journalism by creating a sustainable system that
provides Americans with the information they need to improve their
communities, hold powerful institutions accountable, and rebuild
trust in the media.
Reporters in the program have already had a big impact on
communities, newsrooms say.
"If you're in the newsroom and you're looking around like I did
and seeing empty desks where reporters used to sit, apply to be a
host newsroom with Report for America," said Ken Ward Jr., co-founder of Mountain State
Spotlight, a West Virginia
start-up. "It's the best way to get boots on the ground to go out
and report for your community."
Report for America plans to hold online information sessions
with newsrooms and partner organizations throughout the application
period. To begin the application process or to learn more
information, news organizations can visit
http://www.reportforamerica.org or send an email to:
info@reportforamerica.org.
About Report for America: Report for America is a national
service program that places talented emerging journalists in local
newsrooms to report on under-covered topics and communities.
Launched in 2017 and donor-financed, Report for America is creating
a new, sustainable system that provides Americans with the
information they need to improve their communities, hold powerful
institutions accountable, and rebuild trust in the media. Report
for America is an initiative of The GroundTruth Project, a
registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. GroundTruth is an
award-winning nonprofit media organization with an established
track record of training and supporting teams of emerging
journalists around the world and in the U.S.
SOURCE Report for America