Report for America (RFA) is a service program for emerging journalists in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Participants are placed in local newsrooms across the country. It was launched in 2017 as an initiative of The GroundTruth Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit journalism organization that trains and supports emerging journalists across the world. RFA was co-founded by

Steven Waldman Steven Waldman is an American journalist. He is president and co-founder of Report for America—a national service program that deploys emerging journalists to local newsrooms. He is also the founder and president of Rebuild Local News, a nonp ...

, who currently serves as its president, and Charles Sennott, the chief executive officer and editor-in-chief of The GroundTruth Project. The program is rooted in a 2015 report written by Waldman, "Report for America: a community service-based model for saving local journalism." Sennott described Report for America as a “call to service for a new generation of journalists” to help communities by “doing reporting that otherwise isn’t getting done” in a 2019 interview with

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

Brian Stelter Brian Patrick Stelter (born September 3, 1985) is an American journalist best known as the former chief media correspondent for CNN and host of the CNN program ''Reliable Sources'', roles he held from 2013 to 2022. He returned to CNN in 2024. St ...

. According to its founders, the need for the program was the decline in local news outlets. In 1990, daily and weekly newspaper publishers employed about 455,000 people, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. By January 2016, that number had fallen to 173,000. Early financial support for Report for America came from the Google News Lab, the

Knight Foundation The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, also known as the Knight Foundation, is an American non-profit foundation that provides grants for journalism, communities, and the arts. The organization was founded as the Knight Memorial Education ...

, the Lenfest Institute for Journalism, Galloway Family Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network and the Center for Investigative Reporting. Additional Report for America donors include the Facebook Journalism Project,

Craig Newmark Craig Alexander Newmark (born December 6, 1952) is an American internet entrepreneur and philanthropist best known as the founder of the classifieds website Craigslist. Before founding Craigslist, he worked as a computer programmer for IBM, Bank ...

Philanthropies,

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Joyce Foundation The Joyce Foundation is a non-operating private foundation based in Chicago, Illinois. As of 2025, it had assets of approximately $1.24 billion. Former U.S. President Barack Obama served on the foundation's board of directors from 1994 through ...

, Tow Foundation,

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, and

Lumina Foundation Lumina Foundation is a private, Indianapolis-based foundation with about $1.4 billion in assets. Since its founding in August 2000, Lumina has made grants totaling more than $250 million. History Lumina Foundation is a conversion foundation crea ...

. Report for America currently fields some 300 journalists in more than 200 local newsrooms across 49 states, Puerto Rico and Guam. These reporters are called corps members and are selected through a competitive application process each year. Report for America typically places journalists early in their careers, but in 2021 it added slots for some more experienced reporters and editors. Organizations hoping to receive reporters also go through a competitive screening process. Beyond their selection, Report for America pays up to half of the corps members' salaries. The other half is paid by the local news organization. Report for America encourages its newsroom partners to raise support from the community, introducing philanthropy as a critical revenue stream to make their coverage possible. In 2022, Report for America released it
"Community News Funds"
report, which outlined strategies for community foundations and local news leaders to create a single, permanent fund that draws upon donations from multiple sources. In 2020, Sennott and Waldman accepted the

National Press Foundation The National Press Foundation is a nonprofit journalism training organization. It educates journalists on complex issues and trains them in reporting tools and techniques. It recognizes and encourages excellence in journalism through its awards. ...

's Chairman's Citation on behalf of Report for America at its annual journalism awards dinner. “At a time when good journalism is under siege, Report for America is providing a much-needed boost to bring quality journalism to areas where local reporting has collapsed,” said Kathy Gest, then-chairman of the National Press Foundation. “This program strengthens democracy by providing the kind of factual, in-depth information that people need to make informed decisions.” Report for America was named as one of six 2021 finalists competing for $100 million in the

MacArthur Foundation The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private foundation that makes grants and impact investments to support non-profit organizations in approximately 117 countries around the world. It has an endowment of $7.6 billion and ...

's ''100&Change'' competition for its efforts to eliminate America's local news deserts. The program's proposal to eliminate news deserts was among 3,650 initial applicants and 475 accepted for review.

References

External links

*{{official website, https://reportforamerica.org/ Non-profit organizations based in the United States American journalism organizations 2017 establishments in the United States Organizations established in 2017

See also

References

External links