2021-2022

Mountain State Spotlight

This new investigative and enterprise hub was launched in 2020 and is led by longtime West Virginia journalists Greg Moore, a former editor at the Charleston Gazette-Mail, and Ken Ward Jr., a MacArthur Foundation “Genius” grant winner for his longtime work covering coal mining and other polluting industries. The staff includes four current RFA Corps members.

The Wichita Beacon

The Wichita Beacon is a nonprofit, digital-only news outlet based Wichita, Kansas, launching in Summer 2021. Our mission: To spur reforms in the public interest by shining light on wrongdoings and abuse by government, businesses and other institutions in the region through in-depth, solutions-driven journalism. The Beacon’s sister newsroom in Kansas City was founded in April 2019 and began publishing in early 2020.

FlintBeat.com

Flint Beat is a hyperlocal news website covering Flint, Mich. with a focus on local government accountability, solutions journalism, and the restorative narrative. Flint Beat was launched in 2017 to help fill news gaps in the community with a mission to empower, impact and inform the residents of Flint.

San Antonio Express-News

The San Antonio Express-News is a legacy daily whose roots go back to 1865. For many years, the paper was known as “the Voice of South Texas,” a motto that still appears on our masthead. San Antonio is one of the fastest-growing cities in the country, and we aim to be an authoritative and indispensable source of local and regional news. We aggressively cover City Hall, county government, the largest local school districts, courts and law enforcement. We also do ambitious enterprise reporting on the U.S.-Mexico border and U.S. immigration policy. Other coverage priorities include local arts and cultural institutions, high school sports, the San Antonio Spurs, and a burgeoning food and restaurant scene. Our editorial board maintains a robust opinion section – two pages per day of editorials, letters and op-ed pieces. We are part of Hearst Co. and share a Statehouse bureau in Austin and a Washington team with our sister paper, the Houston Chronicle.

California News Desert & Trust Initiative

The Visalia Times-Delta, where this reporter is based, is owned by Gannett. The California News Desert Initiative aims to promote content sharing among newsrooms so residents in under-covered communities get the news they need. 

Chicago Sun-Times

The Chicago Sun-Times is the legendary news voice of Chicago’s working class. The news organization was recently acquired by a diverse consortium of philanthropists, business leaders and Chicago area labor organizations.

Herald and News (Klamath Falls)

The Herald and News has operated in Klamath County, in southwest Oregon, for more than a century. We cover the the city of Klamath Falls and Klamath County, in addition to neighboring Lake County and some communities across the nearby state border into California.  

AL.com

AL.com is the largest digital news site in Alabama, and one of the nation’s largest local news sites. It is part of the Alabama Media Group, which also operates social brand “It’s a Southern Thing,” “This is Alabama,” “People of Alabama” and the millennial-focused news brand “Reckon.” Alabama Media Group is part of Advance Local. Content for AL.com comes from three Advance Local newspapers: The Mobile Press Register, Birmingham News, Huntsville Times. The staff includes 75 reporters, editors, social producers and videographers.

Traverse City Record-Eagle

The Traverse City Record-Eagle is northern Michigan’s largest news outlet, operating print and digital publications, including a daily print edition, a quarterly magazine and two podcasts. The Record-Eagle has a strong history of strong watchdog reporting complemented by artful narrative writing. Our newsroom is situated in downtown Traverse City, but serves a five-county core coverage area as well as broad, growing sections of news desert in northern Michigan.  

Mountain State Spotlight

This new investigative and enterprise hub was launched in 2020 and is led by longtime West Virginia journalists Greg Moore, a former editor at the Charleston Gazette-Mail, and Ken Ward Jr., a MacArthur Foundation “Genius” grant winner for his longtime work covering coal mining and other polluting industries. The staff includes four current RFA Corps members.