Report for America announces 100+ newsroom partners and the opening of new corps member applications - Buffalo’s Fire

This story was filed on December 17, 2024

Buffalo’s Fire has been selected as a host newsroom in Report for America’s 2025-2026 cohort, its third award from the program, which helps local newsrooms expand coverage of underreported topics. The award will help support a reporter dedicated to covering the issue of Murdered and Missing Indigenous People.

Report for America announced today several new partnership and program developments designed to bring immediate and long-term solutions to the challenges facing local news.

Over 100 newsrooms will make up the 2025-2026 cohort, with three-quarters partnering with Report for America as traditional host newsrooms for corps members, and a select group taking part in a pilot accelerator program to develop sustainable business models through local philanthropy.

“Today’s news marks an exciting expansion of our proven model,” said Kim Kleman, executive director of Report for America. “Not only are we recruiting and placing exceptional journalists in communities that need them most, but we’re significantly increasing our efforts to help newsrooms become more financially stable.”

New Local Newsroom Partners and Accelerator Program Participants

The 66 incoming host newsroom partners represent some of the highest need areas for local news. Highlights of this cohort include the following:

A majority (59%) are small newsrooms, with nine or fewer editorial staffers. The rest are largely midsize newsrooms of 10 to 49 editorial staffers.
Coverage of rural communities, the environment and local government are the most requested beats of this group.
65% are nonprofit newsrooms; 35% are for profit.
More than half (57%) are new newsroom partners with Report for America; the rest have had one or more corps members previously.

Find the list of incoming host newsroom partners and available journalist positions here.

An additional 35 newsrooms were selected for a pilot accelerator program through which they will receive coaching, training and fiscal sponsorship, if needed, to help diversify revenue streams by tapping into local philanthropic support. This program is built upon Report for America’s support of more than 400 newsrooms that have collectively raised $30 million since 2017.

“Since our program started, we’ve seen first hand the impact of helping newsrooms tell their story to help their community better understand the roles and benefits of local news. People are stepping up to generate new ways to fund newsrooms across the country,” shared Morgan Baum, director of local news sustainability at Report for America. “We’ve also learned that our newsroom partners could greatly benefit from our support in order to prepare for journalists to join their teams. Our new accelerator program will work with newsroom leaders to generate new revenue to do just that—a springboard to financial stability with the goal of helping newsrooms not just survive but thrive and grow.”

Find the list of incoming accelerator newsroom partners here.

Corps Member Applications Open

With host newsrooms selected, journalists are invited to apply for open positions by February 3, 2025. The Report for America model pairs the skills and passion of diverse, next generation reporters, photographers and videographers with local news organizations across the country.

Through their newsroom experience and Report for America training and mentorship, corps members create real impact in the communities they serve, from shedding light on Medicaid fraud targeting Indigenous communities to forcing resignations of accused clergy members to helping fill a long-vacant rural teaching position.

“Report for America invites journalists from diverse backgrounds to weave their unique narratives into the fabric of our host newsrooms. With a dedicated beat as their canvas, these storytellers ensure that every community’s voice is heard and critical issues are amplified,” said Earl Johnson, vice president of recruitment and alumni engagement at Report for America. “Through Report for America, journalists find not just a job but a calling—a perfect opportunity to make a profound difference where it matters most.”

New corps members will join an elite group of more than 600 Report for America journalists, more than 82 percent of whom continue to work in the field after program completion, demonstrating the power of the program and its local newsroom partners. With nearly half of Report for America journalists identifying as journalists of color, high rates of retention are essential to a transformed news landscape.

Corps members will be selected from a highly competitive national applicant pool. Last year, more than 1,000 applications were received. Those hired become employees of their respective newsrooms and will begin their employment July 7, 2025. Interested journalists are encouraged to attend an information session and explore the benefits of becoming a corps member: reportforamerica.org/apply

Expanded Opportunities for Photojournalists, Education Reporters

In addition to these 66 open positions will be up to 20 beats dedicated to photojournalism as a continued expansion of our partnership with CatchLight, which began in 2019 to bring critical visual storytelling to underserved communities. These specialty positions and selected newsrooms will be announced in January.

And through a partnership with the Arizona Media Association, Report for America will be supporting several education beats in Arizona newsrooms, also to be announced in January.

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.