“It is the great power and responsibility that we wield as local journalists that we can touch people so profoundly, and I want each and every one of you to think of a time that your work has changed someone’s life.”
That was Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Alissa Zhu’s message to the 52 Report for America corps members who graduated during a virtual ceremony on June 24.
The evening celebrated more than the end of a chapter, it celebrated the reporting, relationships and community impact these reporters built during their time with Report for America. Across the country, they investigated overlooked issues, earned the trust of their communities and helped ensure local residents had access to the reporting they need to understand and shape the places they call home.
Since welcoming its first corps in 2018, Report for America has supported more than 800 journalists reporting in local newsrooms across the country.
Find a summary of their remarks below and watch their full keynote speeches from the 2026 Report for America Local News Awards and Graduation.
Graduates heard from Zhu, whose investigative reporting at The Baltimore Banner earned the 2025 Pulitzer Prize, and fellow graduating corps member Avery Martinez of Wisconsin Public Radio, who reflected on his own four-year journey through Report for America and the enduring importance of journalism that serves communities.
Zhu said she knows firsthand what sustained local reporting can accomplish. Her Pulitzer Prize-winning work investigating Baltimore’s overdose crisis required years of reporting, showing up consistently for vulnerable communities and building trust with people whose stories often go unheard.
Throughout her remarks, Zhu encouraged graduates to embrace both the ambition and humanity that local news requires.
“The fact that you chose to become a corps member with Report for America says something really special about each of you,” she said. “Many of you moved to places you never imagined you would live. You stayed to live, to learn and to grow.”
Reflecting on her own career, from covering her hometown in Missouri to reporting in Mississippi and now Baltimore, Zhu spoke about journalism’s unique ability to foster understanding between people who might never otherwise connect.
“It’s this really rare, intimate opportunity to learn deeply about a stranger’s life,” she said. “One of the most important roles we play is bringing people closer together to a shared understanding of the world we live in.”
She also reminded graduates to advocate for themselves, protect their humanity and remember that compassion is an asset, not a liability, in local reporting.
“It is a great power and responsibility that we wield as local journalists, that we can touch people so profoundly,” Zhu said. “I want each and every one of you to think of a time that your work has changed someone’s life. I know it has, in ways both big and small. I think it all makes a difference, and it will continue to make a difference. So go forth and use this power well.”
That message resonated with graduating corps member Avery Martinez, whose four years with Report for America included two positions, leadership as president of the Advisory Corps Council and, today, a reporting position at Wisconsin Public Radio.
Martinez reflected on how Report for America opened doors early in his career and gave him the confidence to pursue meaningful reporting in communities that trusted him with their stories.
“I want to tell all of you thank you for what you do every day,” he said. “What you’ve done for our communities and for our profession, just being good reporters. We don’t hear ‘thank you’ a lot in our jobs, but I thank you.”
He described receiving a handwritten note from a woman whose life had been touched by his reporting on mental health in El Paso, a reminder that journalism’s impact often extends far beyond headlines or page views.
Throughout his remarks, Martinez challenged fellow graduates to continue pursuing difficult stories, even as local news faces growing challenges and public skepticism.
“Every day we’re telling people’s stories and histories, and we’re learning how the world works,” he said. “Somebody has to do it. Good or bad, easy or hard.”
He closed with an encouragement to continue the work that brought them to Report for America in the first place.
“Please keep doing what you’re doing because it’s so important,” he said. “The stories in our communities need to be told.”
Congratulations to the 52 graduates of the Report for America Class of 2026, and thank you to Alissa Zhu and Avery Martinez for reminding us all why local news, and the people committed to it, matter.