Houston Public Media was one of nine newsrooms across Texas selected to host a Report for America journalist starting in June 2020. The journalist will focus on factors that affect the health of Houstonians.
“Our participation in Report for America will help us better tell the story of Houston, focusing on how factors like poverty, climate change and pollution affect individual and community health,” said Dave Fehling, director of news and public affairs at Houston Public Media. “This will allow us to report on health problems and trends, as well as highlight innovations and ideas that lead to health solutions.”
Report for America is a national service program that places talented, emerging journalists into local news organizations to report for one to two years on under-covered issues and communities. This ambitious national effort addresses news deserts widening across the country that leave communities uninformed on important local issues, as well as serves as a pipeline for a new generation of journalists.
“This placement will help Houston Public Media strengthen quality, local journalism in our region and contribute to a healthy democracy by informing and engaging area residents,” said Lisa Trapani Shumate, general manager of Houston Public Media. “Houston Public Media’s important service to the community is providing a place for life-learning and exploration for audiences of all ages.”
Report for America is investing more than $5 million in direct support to newsrooms, paying for half of every participating reporter's salary and providing training at the beginning of the term and throughout the service years. The program announced it will field 250 journalists across 46 states in 164 newsrooms the coming year. Newsroom applicants included all media – radio, TV, print, and digital. The goal of the model is to expand the number of local reporting positions permanently.
Journalists and their newsroom pairings will be announced in April after a selective national search.
Learn more about Report for America and view the full list of 2020 newsrooms here.
(This post was taken from a release sent to me by Houston Public Media)
