“Why does Report for America place reporters in for-profit newsrooms? Shouldn’t those places cover the communities adequately — on their own dime?” We get this question occasionally. I want to address it head on because we believe strongly that Report for America corps members should partner with a full range of models, including both nonprofit
We often talk about the closures of newspapers over the past few decades. Of course this is all happening at a time when the population has increased. So the number of journalists per American has declined even more. If you view local reporting as a public service, that means there’s been an even sharper decline
Report for America was created to help save local news. It was launched long before COVID-19, yet the signs of local journalism’s collapse were quite evident even in 2014. The pandemic has accelerated the decline and created an imminent crisis. Even before COVID-19, local newspapers had lost more than half their jobs since 2008—about the
This piece ran in Columbia Journalism Review. I’m using this space to elaborate on some of the ideas. DISCUSSIONS OF HOW TO SAVE LOCAL NEWS now need to balance two awkward realities. On the one hand, local news organizations need urgent help in order to keep their doors open and provide information to residents. No, it doesn’t
Keeping these news sources afloat needs to be part of the governmental and philanthropic response to the pandemic. Reprinted from The Atlantic By Steven Waldman. and Charles Sennott Among the important steps you should take during this crisis: Wash your hands. Don’t touch your face. And buy a subscription to your local newspaper. The coronavirus
In The Atlantic, we wrote about several ways society can save local news as it collapses. Here I’m going to elaborate one: The federal government can significantly help local news to better inform their communities during the COVID-19 crisis by dramatically increasing their spending on public health advertising, and funneling a good chunk of that
Colorado — Associated Press: Colorado state legislature, with special focus on public health Connecticut — Associated Press: State policy issues at the intersection of mental health and criminal justice Illinois — Capitol News: 1) Illinois state legislature, especially its affect on ethnic and minority communities in Illinois 2) Videographer to cover state legislature and pressing
Todd Franko will help local newsrooms raise money for their corps members as Director of Local Sustainability and Development Todd Franko, the outgoing editor of the Youngstown, Ohio Vindicator, has joined Report for America in a new role focused on helping news organizations raise local funds to support journalism. The closure of the Vindicator, after
One of the basic functions of the press is to provide citizens information on which to base their vote. In thousands of communities around the country, that basic responsibility has been abdicated. The consequences are dire. Numerous studies have shown that less news coverage leads to even lower voter turnout, a less informed electorate, fewer
Most of you know that Report for America offers newsrooms an opportunity to hire reporters to address important coverage gaps in your community through beats such as health care or the environment, or in locations that have gone under-covered. But here are a few approaches you might not have thought of… Have more than one