Report for America announced Thursday the selection of 225 journalists for its 2020 reporting corps. The new cohort will be placed with more than 160 local news organizations across 45 states and Puerto Rico.
Among those named is freelance journalist Emma Cotton, who will focus on issues of critical importance to Southern Vermont.
These reporting positions come at a time when local journalism is already reeling from years of newsroom cuts and unforeseen challenges brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, the organization said. They also mark a major expansion from the current corps size of 59, of whom, more than 90% are returning.
Report for America is a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities through its reporting corps. It is an initiative of the nonprofit news organization, the GroundTruth Project.
“It’s now crystal clear that the need for trustworthy, accurate and local information can be a matter of life and death,” said Steven Waldman, co-founder and president of Report for America. “This surge of reporters should help meet this moment.”
We can’t do this alone. Show your support for more Southern Vermont reporting today.
Cotton, who joins VTDigger on June 1, previously worked as a reporter for the Addison Independent, where she covered politics, business, the arts and environmental issues. She also served as an assistant editor at Vermont Sports magazine and VT Ski + Ride.
Cotton majored in science journalism at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, where she was editor-in-chief of the Current. In that role at the independent student newspaper, she led a staff of 40 writers and editors. Her senior thesis on the invasive Burmese pythons in Everglades National Park formed the basis for a major project in the newspaper.
In 2018, she received a first-place award from the New England Newspaper and Press Association in the columnist category. She also was honored for “best profile” by the Florida Society of Professional Journalists in 2016.
Also in Vermont, Anna Van Dine is joining Vermont Public Radio as an RFA reporter to cover “deeper issues revealed by coronavirus.”
The Report for America newsrooms were selected in December based on a national competition. To win, news organizations described an urgent gap in coverage and a plan to deploy an RFA journalist to address that gap.
As a result of the Covid-19 shock, some newsrooms pulled out of the program and others newsrooms asked for additional staff. The 162 newsrooms are in 45 states, plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. Nearly half of the positions are in nonprofit media organizations.
Report for America aims to increase the size of its reporter corps each year — with a goal of 1,000 journalists by 2024. Its ability to scale the program is made possible by multi-year commitments from supporters like the Knight Foundation.
An initiative of the GroundTruth Project, Report for America will cover half the salary of journalists who are selected, with the news organization and local fundraising initiatives covering the rest. The appointment is for one year but can be extended.
As a requirement of participation in Report for America, VTDigger must raise a minimum of $11,500 from readers to fund Emma’s position. Will you help fuel Southern Vermont reporting by becoming a member, upping your monthly donation or making an additional gift today?
The full list of 2020-21 corps members is attached.
