88.5 WFDD recently announced that it has been selected as a Report for America host newsroom, in partnership with Spanish language publication La Noticia. The Report for America grant helps to fund the placement of a bilingual reporter in the WFDD newsroom, and allows WFDD, in conjunction with La Noticia, to expand its coverage of the impact of COVID-19 on the Hispanic community. “Covid-19 has disproportionately affected the Hispanic population in our communities. Providing comprehensive reporting on issues that matter to our community is key to our mission, and this support from Report for America and La Noticia will help us in that effort,” said WFDD News Director Emily McCord. “Our coverage will include not only how the disease has affected the Hispanic population, but also the trajectory of the recovery from the pandemic and its associated fallout, and how that may look different within the Hispanic community,” continued McCord.
This collaboration between WFDD and La Noticia joins an expanding network of more than 200 newsrooms benefiting from the support of Report for America, a nonprofit national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. An initiative of The GroundTruth Project, a nonprofit media organization, it is structured to harness the skills and idealism of an emerging group of journalists plus the creative spirit of local news organizations
Report for America is a two-year program (with an option for three) that delivers a wide range of benefits to its corps members. Beyond paying up to half of the journalists' salaries, it provides ongoing training and mentorship by leading journalists, peer networking, and memberships to select professional organizations.
“We look forward to welcoming our new Report for America corps member in early summer,” said McCord. “Listeners and community members interested in supporting this vital mission to preserve local news can do so on our website.”
Journalists interested in this position can apply here, by Jan. 31, 2021.