Emma Malinak covers the stories of Lynchburg, VA, for Cardinal News. Before becoming a Report for America corps member, Malinak reported on everything from climate change to child care as an intern at VTDigger. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and English from Washington and Lee University, where she was co-editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Ring-tum Phi. Malinak was the founding CEO of the Ring-tum Phi, Inc., a nonprofit corporation designed to secure a sustainable financial model and editorial independence for the student-run paper.
Beat: Watchdog, civic journalism in an underserved Virginia region
This reporter covers one of Virginia’s oldest cities — with one of the youngest median ages. Lynchburg has four colleges but struggles to keep its public schools open; it has a firm conservative tradition, but one splintered by in-fighting and scandal. This beat cuts through the noise to provide the stories Lynchburg’s citizens need — the big stories that have gone unreported, in powerful narratives, accountability and data reporting, and civic journalism — in Virginia's most politically and socially divided city.