California

Stocktonia

Stocktonia is a nonprofit, digital-native news source. It is devoted to the most important news in Stockton and San Joaquin County and guided by the best practices in journalism. In 2024, Stocktonia became a part of NEWSWELL, devoted to finding new ways to help local news – and local communities – thrive. Today, this startup, digital-native website employs one of the largest teams of local journalists in the region. With community support, it continues to grow.

Santa Cruz Local

Santa Cruz Local is a local news organization that serves residents of Santa Cruz County and the Pajaro Valley. Santa Cruz Local was founded in 2019 by local journalists who wanted to give residents an unbiased, fair and accurate source of local news and information. In 2023, we launched Noticias Watsonville, Spanish-language audio news on WhatsApp. Now, we’re building civic news for young people.

Boyle Heights Beat

Boyle Heights Beat / Pulso de Boyle Heights is a nonprofit news organization serving Boyle Heights and the Eastside with bilingual, community-focused journalism. Founded in 2010 as a youth journalism program, it has evolved into a trusted news source publishing daily online, quarterly in print, and through a podcast and newsletter. Dedicated to “noticias por y para la comunidad,” or “news by and for the community,” BHB engages residents with information, resources, and stories that reflect their needs and amplify local voices.

Fresnoland

Fresnoland is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to making policy public for all residents of California’s central San Joaquin Valley.

Mission Local

Mission Local is more than a neighborhood news site. This nonprofit news organization, based in San Francisco’s Mission District, reports on the city’s most pressing issues: police reform, housing, homelessness and education. Mission Local focuses on producing trustworthy journalism, and stories are published in English and Spanish.

Open Vallejo

Open Vallejo is an award-winning, independent, non-partisan, nonprofit newsroom serving the public interest. We seek to illuminate a small city long burdened by police violence, corruption and neglect. As the first project of the Informed California Foundation, Open Vallejo is also a permanent design laboratory for open source, high-impact, broadly-accessible frameworks for ensuring local transparency, accountability and information justice.

Voice of San Diego

Voice of San Diego has been a pioneering investigative, nonprofit news organization since 2005. Our mission is to provide investigative journalism for a better San Diego. Our writers have the freedom and responsibility to tackle the biggest issues in the region. We believe San Diego is strong enough to face its most uncomfortable and intractable problems. But we also seek to educate, enlighten and entertain readers who care about San Diego's future and want an excellent and just government. Voice of San Diego has a unique approach to local journalism. We encourage conversational, engaging writing. We believe complexity is a form of elitism and that journalists are educators to help residents understand their communities, public policy discussions, plans and finances.
Gisselle Medina

Gisselle Medina

Gisselle Medina covers religion, culture and community development in the Central Valley for Fresnoland. Prior to joining Report for America, Medina built an education beat from scratch at The Frisc, a small newsroom in San Francisco. Their work has been published in the L.A. Times, The Oaklandside, The Daily Californian, Greater Good Science Center, and much more. Medina was a 2023 White House Correspondents' Association scholarship recipient and was part of the 2023 NAHJ and NLGJA student projects. Medina received a master's degree in journalism, with concentrations in investigative reporting and multimedia, from UC Berkeley, where they also studied English as an undergraduate. Originally from Los Angeles, Medina lived in Fresno for 10 years, where they cultivated a passion for helping people while residing in a room and board facility and uncovering the disparities faced by the residents. Outside of work, Medina loves to spend time with loved ones, playing board games, dancing to music, traveling to new places, and reading poetry.

Audrey Mei Yi Brown

Audrey Brown (they/them) covers environmental health equity and corporate accountability in the Bay Area for the San Francisco Public Press. Prior to joining Report for America, Brown covered environmental equity for the Bay Area climate news magazine KneeDeep Times. This followed a stint at the San Francisco Chronicle, where Brown worked on SFNext, a civic engagement initiative, covering a range of city issues spanning homelessness, digital inequity, and downtown recovery. Brown is a 2022 graduate of Columbia Journalism School. They grew up in San Francisco and still call the city home.

Fresnoland

Fresnoland is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to making policy public for all residents of California's central San Joaquin Valley.