ProPublica to Launch New Regional Units in the South and Southwest; ProPublica Illinois to Expand to

[TexasTowelie]

ProPublica to Launch New Regional Units in the South and Southwest; ProPublica Illinois to Expand to Midwest Regional Newsroom


ProPublica announced on Thursday that it is dramatically scaling up its commitment to local investigative journalism with the launch of three regional reporting hubs. The nonprofit news organization will establish two new units covering the South and Southwest. ProPublica Illinois, which since 2017 has published investigative journalism on key issues in Illinois, will be transformed into a unit covering a broader swath of the Midwest.

In addition to the regional reporting hubs, ProPublica is launching a Distinguished Fellows program to support proven investigative journalists. Selected fellows will embark on three-year partnerships with ProPublica, as they report from their local newsrooms.

The expansion is made possible by two significant grants from philanthropic entities, one a donor-advised fund held at the Pew Charitable Trusts. ProPublica expects to add nearly 30 new positions across the United States, including editors and reporters, news applications developers, researchers and other staff.

“The need for local accountability journalism is more acute than ever, as newspapers across the country contract and in some cases collapse,” said Charles Ornstein, ProPublica managing editor for local. “The rapid decline of local reporting is a crisis challenging democracy itself, leaving communities without information that is critical to their ability to hold powerful interests and decision-makers accountable. Through this transformative expansion of ProPublica’s local initiatives, we believe we can create a sustainable infrastructure that will meaningfully address these widening gaps.”

Read more: https://www.propublica.org/atpropublica/propublica-to-launch-new-regional-units-in-the-south-and-southwest-propublica-illinois-to-expand-to-midwest-regional-newsroom

[Budi]

1. K & R

Impressive move for ProPublica.

May they stick to their high standards of truth over bias.