Review-Journal to add reporters for under-covered local issues

The newsroom is among 164 nationwide that were selected to participate in the Report for America program, which places journalists into local news organizations to report on undercovered issues and communities for one or two years.

At the Review-Journal, two reporters will be assigned to the business desk.

“It’s a huge honor to have two Report for America positions,” said Las Vegas Review-Journal Managing Editor Anastasia Hendrix. “These reporters will deliver impactful and enlightening stories on major issues facing our community — those who need help the most and those providing support. This will give readers a deeper understanding of neighborhoods in need of support and redevelopment and the entrepreneurs, donors and nonprofit organizations working to make it happen.”

A total of 250 journalists will participate in the program, which is funded by a coalition of national philanthropic organizations, local and regional foundations and each newsroom.

“We offer a pretty simple fix for news holes in communities throughout the country — local reporters on the ground, who hold leaders accountable and report on undercovered issues,” said Steven Waldman, president and co-founder of Report for America. “The editors we’ve met during our application cycle have shown us amazing passion, commitment and sharp ideas for how to better serve their local communities.”

Applications for the 250 positions nationwide will be accepted through Jan. 31 at reportforamerica.com.

Journalists and their newsroom pairings will be announced in April and will start in their new newsrooms in June.

Last year, Report for America drew nearly 1,000 applications for 50 open positions, signaling significant interest among emerging journalists. Some 50 reporters from the 2019 Report for America class are expected to stay on another year.

The 2020 Report for America initiative is more than four times the size of the 2019 class, reporting in some 50 local news organizations across 28 states and Puerto Rico. The program marks the single biggest hiring announcement of journalists in recent memory.

Report for America is an initiative of The GroundTruth Project. Key national organizations backing the program include the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Facebook Journalism Project, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Google News Initiative, the Ford Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation, the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, the Tow Foundation and many more.

Regional support for 25 local news outlets in the Southwest, which includes Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Utah, was provided by the LOR Foundation and the Santa Fe Community Foundation.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.