Gerard Albert

Gerard Albert

Gerard Albert III covers rural communities in Western North Carolina at Blue Ridge Public Radio. Before joining Report for America, Albert worked at WLRN in South Florida reporting on affordable housing, law enforcement, and local government accountability in Broward County. There, he won multiple state and national awards for his coverage of the Parkland school shooter death penalty trial. His work has been featured on NPR, Here & Now and the BBC. Previously, he reported on the criminal justice system in Palm Beach and South Carolina, where he won state-wide awards for his reporting on police policies. Albert started his journalism career at Florida International University’s student-run newspaper. He became Editor in Chief his senior year and earned state-wide awards for his investigation into the university spending millions of dollars on palm trees from a shady dealer. In Florida, he spends most weekends knee-deep in the Everglades and looks forward to exploring trails in the Blue Ridge Mountains. When not outdoors, he enjoys reading, writing poetry, and perfecting the sugar-to-coffee ratio for his coladas.

Brenda Hernandez

Brenda Hernandez-Rodriguez is a first generation Mexican-American Latina multimedia journalist. Her spark for journalism and higher education started with her high school newspaper. She holds a bachelor's degree in writing & rhetoric with a journalism concentration. As a college student at St.Edward’s University she completed five internship experiences and was a part of Hilltop Views, the university newspaper. Her written and spoken Spanish fluency has allowed her to curate community-focused articles about the Latino community in her hometown. Brenda is a multimedia journalist who always seeks to grow and expand her video and photographic skill set. Brenda has an unwavering passion and dedication for journalism and hopes to make her career something her parents will be proud of.

Joe Timmerman

A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Joe Timmerman is the staff photojournalist for statewide coverage at Wisconsin Watch. Before that, he interned at The Indianapolis Star, The Texas Tribune and The Cincinnati Enquirer. In 2023, Timmerman graduated from Ohio University with degrees in visual communication and journalism focusing his reporting the environment and mental health. He is a member of the National Press Photographers Association and curates for the Everyday Rural America Instagram account. His awards for his work include the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, the National Press Photographers Foundation, Ohio News Photographers Association and the National Association of Television Arts and Sciences. In his free time, he loves to rock climb, ride his bike around the city and listen to music.

The Associated Press – Virginia

The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate and unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. More than half the world’s population sees AP journalism every day.

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.

Buffalo’s Fire

Buffalo's Fire is the online news publishing division of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance, a nonprofit media organization covering American Indian communities in North Dakota and along the Missouri River based in Bismarck, North Dakota.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is a statewide family owned news organization based in Little Rock, the state Capitol. We have a strong commitment to providing unbiased, in-depth articles to readers of both our digital replica editions and our website. We believe in using the Freedom of Information Act to get the information that tells readers how their government is run.

Blue Ridge Public Radio (BPR)

Blue Ridge Public Radio exists to provide Western North Carolinians with a deeper understanding of one another and the world, by being an essential, independent source of news and cultural content. The most-listened to radio station in the Asheville, NC market, Blue Ridge Public Radio is the NPR affiliate for the region. We provide public media service to 650,000 people through digital platforms and two radio stations–BPR News and BPR Classic–across a 13-county region in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Dallas Free Press

Dallas Free Press, a nonprofit news site, launched in January 2020 with the mission of amplifying voices and exploring solutions to the city’s systemic inequities. It focuses community journalism efforts on three zip codes in South Dallas and West Dallas, which are predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods, respectively.

Kansas City PBS/Flatland

Kansas City PBS has a long tradition of public service that has laid the foundation for expanding its news gathering relationship with our community. Our content platforms — television, radio, digital, social media and educational outreach — exist to serve the diversity of our region. We explore complicated issues with thoughtful reporting. We share the diverse stories of people, places, and progress in our community. We advance conversations through community engagement and social media. Specifically, Kansas City PBS operates four KCPT-related public television channels; KTBG 90.9 The Bridge, an NPR-affiliated AAA music station; and FlatlandKC, an online digital magazine; in addition to social media and community events.