• by Sara Guaglione , December 8, 2017

ProPublica has selected seven newsrooms and local reporters for its Local Reporting Network, an initiative announced in October. It will provide monetary support to investigative reporters and their year-long projects at regional news organizations.

Winners were selected from a pool of 239 applications from 45 states, plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico.

Beginning in January, the reporters will cover topics ranging from conflicts of interest, housing, mental health care, criminal justice and workplace safety, among others.

The selected newsrooms and reporters are: The Advocate and Rebekah Allen in Baton Rouge, La.; Charleston Gazette-Mail and Ken Ward, Jr. in Charleston, W. Va.; Malheur Enterprise and Jayme Fraser in Vale, Ore.; Santa Fe New Mexican and Rebecca Moss in Santa Fe, N.M.; South Bend Tribune and Christian Sheckler in South Bend, Ind.; The Southern Illinoisan and Molly Parker in Carbondale, Ill.; and WMFE and Abe Aboraya in Orlando, Fla.

ProPublica, a nonprofit journalism organization, will pay the salary (and a benefits allowance) for each reporter, who will report to their home newsroom, as well as receive “extensive guidance and support” from ProPublica. Reporters will collaborate with ProPublica senior editor Charles Ornstein.

“This project was started to give local newsrooms across America needed resources and support to execute investigative journalism that digs deep and holds power to account,” Ornstein stated. “The powerful proposals from our inaugural group of reporters are very much in that spirit.”

The organization says the funding comes from a new three-year, $3 million grant from an individual donor who requested anonymity. 

The stories will be jointly published by the local news organizations and ProPublica.