Report for America will no longer work with newspapers owned by hedge funds; it's 'not a model we support'

Report for America journalists report on under-covered
places and issues. (RFA photo)

Report for America supports local newsrooms struggling to cover their community's issues by recruiting and matching hardworking journalists with papers in need and then subsidizing reporters' salaries. 

But the initiative, which is part of the nonprofit media organization The GroundTruth Project, has taken a stand on which organizations it wants to support. "It has decided to stop working with one growing category of newspapers — those backed by hedge funds or private-equity firms," reports Jeremy Barr of The Washington Post. Kim Kleman, Report for America's Executive Director, told Barr, "Hedge fund ownership of local newsrooms is not a business model we support. America has seen the results: an axing of staff and also local news coverage."

Report for America's choice means "some major chains — including Gannett and Tribune Publishing — will no longer receive new reporters from the Report for America corps, though those currently placed in newsrooms will be able to finish their service," Barr explains. "Some journalists and industry-observers cheered the decision. American University journalism professor Margot Susca said 'it was a long time coming.'"

Still, the decision sparked controversy because some journalists felt the removal of Report for America reporters would further damage the profession and the quality of news coverage. Barr reports, "[They] expressed concern that journalists working at hedge fund-associated newspapers would be hurt by the disappearance of corps members, who fill staffing gaps and report on under-covered issues and communities."

As news outlets wrangle with shrinking profits and staff, Report for America journalists are in high demand. "To date, Report for America has placed 607 journalists in some 339 newsrooms, including nonprofit organizations, locally owned businesses and public media outlets," Barr reports. "Some 15 percent of those corps members have worked at news organizations owned by or associated with hedge funds, including 21 current journalists."