South

MLK50: Justice Through Journalism

MLK50: Justice Through Journalism is an award-winning nonprofit digital newsroom based in Memphis and focused on the intersection of poverty, power and policy. Launched in April 2017 during the run-up to the 50th anniversary of Dr.  Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, we frame the news from the perspective of the people King would have been aligned with had he not been assassinated. Through our three-year partnership with ProPublica, MLK50’s RFA fellows will have access to ProPublica training and may have the opportunity to collaborate on stories co-published with the national investigative reporting outlet.  

The Island Packet

In 1970, real estate developer Tom Wamsley and former newspaperman Ralph Hilton enlisted help and money from a third Hilton Head Island resident to start a newspaper to cover happenings on Hilton Head, a small island off the S.C. coast. The first edition — a 20-page tabloid — rolled off the press July 9, 1970. The paper came out on Thursday afternoons to an island with only 3,000 residents. As the island grew into a renowned resort, the Packet grew with it — from a weekly tabloid into a daily broadsheet newspaper. McClatchy Newspapers purchased the Packet in 1990, and by 1995 it had become a seven-day-a-week newspaper.  

Rappahannock News & Foothills Forum

News desert? Check. The weekly News is the lone legitimate mainstream print/online outlet. The Rappahannock News has served the 7,300 residents of rural Rappahannock County, Va., since 1949. Its parent company is owned by a group of community investors.

WFAE / La Noticia

WFAE is the NPR station serving a 32-county listening area in the Charlotte region. For 32 years, people across the Carolinas have relied on WFAE to offer comprehensive and in-depth reporting on the topics they need to understand, whether of local, national, or international importance. La Noticia is a media company that produces the largest Spanish language newspaper in North Carolina. For over 22 years, we have been serving the growing Latino community in North Carolina with coverage of immigration, local and state government, politics, and community news and events. Our readers are immigrants from Latin America with a news source in their native language, providing them with the news and information they need to make informed decisions and help them adjust to the culture in the United States, in North Carolina, and in the cities they call home.  

The News & Observer

The News & Observer’s roots go back to 1865, when its predecessor The Sentinel was launched to expose corruption in the Reconstruction era. Among the News & Observer’s many awards are three Pulitzer Prizes, including the 1996 gold medal for public service. The News & Observer is the paper of record in the capital city of North Carolina, covering the statehouse, the legislature and its impact on the lives of all North Carolinians. The newspaper’s mission is to produce fearless and independent public service journalism that gives a voice to underrepresented, unheard groups and communities.

Miami Herald

The Miami Herald is a regional news organization that focuses its coverage on South Florida and the surrounding region of the Caribbean and Latin America, to which most of its residents have ties. It's one of the most diverse areas of the country. The largest county in our market, Miami-Dade, has a population that is more than 65 percent foreign born. The Herald has a strong tradition of accountability journalism, and has won more Pulitzer Prizes (22) than any news organization in the Southeast United States

Ledger-Enquirer

The Ledger-Enquirer is a digital-first, daily local newspaper based in Columbus, Ga., focused on bringing our community engaging and actionable news. We are composed of a small but dedicated crew of journalists. Our veteran journalists are the foundation of our newsroom with valuable contacts built up from years of reporting, the ability to write on any topic in a thorough and accurate fashion and institutional knowledge of our practices and standards. With deep community ties, these reporters have earned first place in recent Georgia APME awards in beat reporting, non-deadline reporting and education coverage. Our younger journalists are all skilled across multimedia forms and often have things to teach their more veteran counterparts. They lift the newsroom spirit, challenge the status quo and ask questions about the community that have long been glossed over. Each day, we focus on sharing fresh content with our readers in the form that best suits them — be it our website, social media platforms or print products.

Tampa Bay Times

The Tampa Bay Times is the largest newspaper in Florida, with a rich, award-winning history of investigative, narrative and enterprise journalism. We have 120 journalists covering three counties and the state of Florida. That includes reporters and editors across news, investigations, enterprise, features, sports and digital. Our ownership structure is unique in journalism, preserved by our late visionary owner, Nelson Poynter. He bequeathed the newspaper to a school for journalists here in St. Petersburg, now known as the Poynter Institute, to protect our independence. We take that independence very seriously, focusing our resources on distinct, exceptional reporting. Our mission as a news organization traces back to our founding in 1884: to report the truth and contribute to an informed society. That mission depends on maintaining our credibility within the community. Poynter said it best in 1961: “When we turn to history we can draw inspiration from those who risked their necks and their economic lives to keep the free press free. Every year newspapers are cited for Pulitzer prizes and other awards in recognition of spectacular crusades and courage. But we have an even greater daily triumph of American journalism in helping to fulfill less spectacular but imperative needs. Without these self-government cannot endure.”

North Carolina Health News

NC Health News launched in January 2012 in response to the disappearance of people to explain this complicated topic. Our reporters each take on multiple roles. Topics include children’s health and Medicaid, oral health, mental health, rural healthcare, environmental health issues and legislative health issues. We’ve been a “virtual” newsroom, with reporters spread across the state. We have a weekly phone-in via Google Hangout and there’s almost constant communication via phone, text, email, Slack, etc. However, we’re renting a physical office in the Triangle to better accommodate meetings and provide a hub for operations.

La Noticia

La Noticia, The Spanish-Language Newspaper, is the largest Spanish-language Newspaper in North Carolina. We have been serving the Latino community here for 22 years. We cover immigration, local and state government, politics and community news and events. Our readers are immigrants from Latin America who prefer to read in Spanish. They are new to the country and they rely on La Noticia to provide them with local news and information in their own language, that will help them make informed decisions and also help them adapt to the culture in the United States, in North Carolina and in the cities where we serve and they live.