BOSTON – Many journalism students about to graduate are filled with hope and anxiety about what comes next. Their wishes could be fulfilled by a seven-year old non-profit that would to hire them.
Report for America was created in 2017, with a mission to solve the issue of the lack of local journalism. Executive director Kim Kleman spoke about the program with students at the SPJ 24 Region 1 conference at Emerson College. Her main goal was to educate the group on the program as well as inviting any and all students to apply.
“What if there were an organization that helped find great early career journalists and subsidized their salaries, and condensed with local newsrooms throughout the country…wouldn’t that be a great thing?” Kleman said. “They would be able to tell stories [and] cover beats on undercovered topics and communities.”
The program allows emerging journalists of all ages to apply, and if you are selected, to join a newsroom of your choice in America. “We call ourselves a national service program for journalists,” she says. “We call our reporters corps members in the spirit of the best service corps programs, [such as] Americorps, the Peace Corps, [and] Teach for America.”
Local news coverage can help people within the community to understand it better. It is also a great way to shed light on issues or people that might not otherwise be covered. “People don’t know their neighbors anymore,” Kleman said. “So it’s really easy to fall into misinformation and disinformation campaigns.” This also can help smaller newsrooms to cover topics that can’t be covered due to staffing shiortages.
Selected students are able to cover a beat for two to three years, allowing them to get in-depth coverage. Basic beats are assigned from various newsrooms such as city hall coverage, coverage of marginalized communities, local issues, among others. “Strong local journalism builds social cohesion and encourages political participation [that] holds government accountable.” she says. There are around 400 newsrooms that the organization is partnered with, including larger newsrooms such as the Boston Globe, the Chicago-Sun Times, Indystar, and others.
Students looking to apply should try to gain as much experience that they can beforehand. Reaching out to local newspapers or newsrooms to freelance is recommended, as well as developing professional connections. Applications come out in December of each year, with Interviews being held January until March, and decisions are made by April to start work in July.
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Leanna Puccio, Endicott College
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