Report for America announces expansion of model, invigorated future for local news

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Knight Foundation invests $20 million in the next generation of journalists, local newsrooms

December 12, 2024 — Report for America has received a $20 million investment from the Knight Foundation to expand its innovative model of journalist recruitment and newsroom partnerships and increase trustworthiness of local journalism.

The multi-year commitment comes at a critical time for local news and communities. Since 2005, America has lost 37% of its newspapers and more than two-thirds of newspaper journalists, and studies confirm that news declines cause significant and immediate community impacts including declines in voter participation, increases in polarization, declines in bond ratings, and increases in corruption.

This investment will help Report for America accelerate its mission to strengthen underserved communities and democracy by recruiting and retaining more diverse journalists, building trust between newsrooms and those they serve, and driving local dollars into local newsrooms.

“What local news needs is long-term sustainability, and this significant investment in Report for America will create and catalyze new opportunities for local funders to support news organizations in their communities,” said Jim Brady, Knight Foundation’s vice president of journalism. “This funding is another example of Knight working nimbly and responsively confronting the urgent issues facing journalism through proven partnerships.”

Specifically, this investment will:

Recruit and retain more, and more diverse, journalists. Through higher education, journalism industry and community partnerships, Report for America will work to recruit skilled next-generation journalists who diversify the representation of communities, voices and experiences, be it geographically, racially, culturally, linguistically or socioeconomically. Its proven training, mentoring and support model retains journalists through their corps years and well into their journalism careers. This funding will provide career-making opportunities and salary support to 500 journalists. They’ll join the 658 corps members who have served in 371 newsrooms in every state, Puerto Rico, Guam and Washington, D.C. since placements began in 2018.

Build trust between local newsrooms and the communities they serve. Report for America will focus on covering the diversity of this country by growing professional support of corps members working in rural areas and other under-resourced and underrepresented communities and by helping them and their newsrooms track and share the impact of their work.

Increase local dollars to support newsrooms. An expanded Local News Sustainability team will lead the charge in newsroom financial sustainability, supporting nonprofit and for-profit newsrooms in collectively generating more than $100 million in revenue and philanthropic funding for these newsrooms. This customized support will set newsrooms up for success before, during and after they host Report for America corps members.

“With reliable, representative news and trust steadily disappearing at the local level, Report for America and our next generation of news leaders and community news organizations are now even better positioned to lead this industry through challenge and change,” said Rob Zeaske, president and CEO of The GroundTruth Project, home of Report for America and Report for the World. “We are grateful to Knight for renewing their investment in our model and in the catalytic partnerships Report for America nurtures every day.”

This latest investment builds on eight years of partnership between Knight Foundation and Report for America and their shared belief in the essential role journalism plays in informing, engaging and strengthening communities.

“Report for America has built an incredibly diverse ground game in local news, recruiting and retaining journalists of color and journalists serving rural and undercovered communities and supporting their newsrooms in building innovative and sustainable success models,” Brady said. “We’re proud to make this new investment and double-down on proven leaders in this work.”

Report for America’s partnerships with newsrooms have helped those newsrooms raise nearly $30 million in local donations. In addition, Report for America has invested $30 million in direct salary subsidy, training and other support. Since inception, more than 82 percent of Report for America journalists continue to work in the field after program completion. Historically, 46 percent of the Report for America corps have been journalists of color.

“Recruitment and retention of exceptional journalists paired with custom newsroom support is the model for local news that serves our communities and democracy,” said Kim Kleman, executive director for Report for America. “We are grateful to the Knight Foundation and to all Report for America supporters who are helping us create a Report for America that is even more deeply centered on corps members, newsrooms and community engagement.”

About Report for America: Report for America is a national service program that places talented emerging journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered topics and communities across the United States and its territories. By creating a new, sustainable model for journalism, Report for America provides people with the information they need to improve their communities, hold powerful institutions accountable, and restore trust in the media. Report for America is an initiative of The GroundTruth Project , an award-winning nonprofit journalism organization dedicated to rebuilding journalism from the ground up.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation: We are social investors who support democracy by funding free expression and journalism, arts and culture in community, research in areas of media and democracy, and in the success of American cities and towns where the Knight brothers once had newspapers. Learn more at kf.org and follow @knightfdn on social media.

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