Report for America to double in 2019:

Report for America, the national service program that places talented journalists into local newsrooms, announced today that it would be doubling the size of its corps for 2019, due to strong funding support and stronger-than-expected interest from news organizations and reporters.

This growth has been made possible by generous new donations from the Google News Initiative, Natasha and Dirk Ziff, the Ethics & Excellence in Journalism Foundation, the Henry Kimmelman Family Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, Samuel I. and the Steans Family Foundation.

The application window for host news organizations is now open. The deadline is October 31. Corps members hit the ground in June 2019.

The application window for reporters opens on November 1. Corps members can register for alerts and information here.

Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project, which this year was nominated for three awards by the Online News Association. GroundTruth is a finalist in the categories of: Excellence and Innovation in Visual Digital Storytelling for The Last Generation, a multimedia collaboration on climate change in the Marshall Islands produced with FRONTLINE; Excellence in Collaboration and Partnerships for Crossing the Divide, a cross-country reporting journey produced with WGBH and partners across the U.S.; and Excellence in Audio Digital Storytelling for The New American Songbook, a podcast series on the role of music in immigrant communities..

Report for America placed 13 reporters in newsrooms across the country throughout 2018. In the last round, more than 1,000 reporters applied to become corps member and 85 news organizations applied to host them.

Under the program, Report for America pays half of the salary for an entry level reporter. The newsroom pays a quarter and they work together to raise a quarter from local donors or foundations. The journalists are assigned to report on under-covered issues or communities.

“With news deserts spreading, we urgently need to step up our efforts to get more reporters in the field,” said Steven Waldman, President and co-founder of Report for America. “Funders have been impressed with the quality of our reporters in 2018 and the tremendous appetite from great newsrooms to host.”

“So many quality news organizations applied to participate in 2018 that it’s thrilling to know we’ll be placing even more extraordinary emerging journalists inside newsrooms in 2019,” said Charles Sennott, CEO of The GroundTruth Project and co-founder of RFA.

Critical early support came from the Tow Foundation, Knight Foundation, Galloway Family Foundation, Select Equity Fund, Lenfest Institute and numerous individuals.

News organizations can learn more or apply here.