What Report for America does

Report for America is a national service program, and flagship initiative of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Report Local (formerly The GroundTruth Project), that recruits, selects, and places emerging journalists into local newsrooms across the United States to cover under-reported issues and underserved communities. Founded in 2017, the organization covers roughly half of each corps member's salary, provides structured training and mentorship, and works with host newsrooms on long-term financial sustainability, including a three-to-one regional fundraising leverage model that has helped partners raise nearly $60 million locally. By mid-2026, Report for America had placed more than 850 journalists into 465 newsrooms across all 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and Guam, and its active reporter corps stood at 200.

The product surface is fundamentally human-capital placement rather than technology: there is no proprietary software platform, app, or AI system disclosed in the source data. Core offerings include the multi-year Corps Program, a collegiate Local News Internship program launched in 2025 with partners such as Howard University and the University of Texas at Austin, and specialized partnership programs such as the WSU Murrow Fellows/Report for Washington initiative, the Western Environmental Reporting Collaborative with High Country News, and the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk. The organization does not charge newsrooms for participation; instead, it is funded almost entirely by philanthropic grants and donations from foundations (notably Knight Foundation's $20 million commitment in December 2024, plus Microsoft, Walton Family Foundation, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Google News Initiative) and individual donors.

The go-to-market motion is sales-led at both ends of a two-sided platform: journalists apply to become corps members and are selected from competitive pools of more than 1,600 applicants for fewer than 80 annual slots, while newsrooms apply to host a corps member and are matched to specific beats. Distribution is overwhelmingly domestic, with select international programming under the sister Report for the World initiative. The 2026 rebrand of the parent entity to Report Local consolidated the U.S. and global programs under a unified organizational identity without altering the underlying operating model.

Name

Report for America

Legal name

Report Local

Website

https://reportforamerica.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Journalism Services

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (51311)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital) (MPAJADAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Community, Ethnic & Multilingual News Publishers (MPAJADAG)

Keywords

• Local journalism placement
• Newsroom sustainability support
• Journalist fellowship program
• Local news funding
• Nonprofit news services

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Philanthropy: Report for America raises funds from individuals, foundations, and corporations to support its journalism program. The organization uses these donations to provide salary support for corps members, training, and newsroom sustainability coaching.
2. Local Fundraising for Newsrooms: Report for America helps partner newsrooms raise funds locally from their communities. The organization has helped unlock nearly $60 million for Report for America newsrooms through local philanthropy efforts, with a three-to-one regional leveraging model.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Report for America is a national service program that recruits emerging journalists, places them into local newsrooms across the United States, and covers roughly half of each corps member's salary using funds raised from foundations, corporations, and individuals. Partner newsrooms receive the placed journalist, professional training support, and sustainability coaching at no participation cost, enabling expanded coverage of underreported local issues. The program also operates a collegiate Local News Internship Program, annual Local News Awards, and Student Journalism Awards as supporting offerings.

Product overview

Report for America is a single, unified national service program (now under Report Local parent organization) that places journalists in local newsrooms. The core offering is the Corps Program, which provides salary support, training, and newsroom sustainability coaching. Supporting programs include the Local News Internship Program for college students, the Student Journalism Awards, the annual Local News Awards, and specialized partnerships like the WSU Murrow Fellows/Report for Washington, Western Environmental Reporting Collaborative, and Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk for regional coverage initiatives.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Report for America Corps Program A national service program that recruits, places, and supports emerging journalists in local newsrooms across the United States. Provides roughly half of each corps member's salary, training, and newsroom sustainability coaching to partner newsrooms at no participation cost, enabling expanded coverage of critical and underreported beats.
• Local News Internship Program A collegiate paid summer internship program placing journalism students in community newsrooms for 10 weeks, providing training, mentoring, and an $8,000 scholarship compensation (75% funded by Report for America and 25% by the participating newsroom).
• Local News Awards Annual awards program celebrating excellence in local journalism by Report for America corps members, with categories spanning photojournalism, investigative reporting, and various coverage beats.
• Student Journalism Awards Annual awards recognizing the work of young student journalists across the country, mentored by current Report for America corps members.
• Investigative Reporting Program Program helping local newsrooms dive deep into local issues through investigative reporting, partnering with Investigative Editing Corps to oversee projects in host newsrooms.

Quantifiable outcome

• 800+ journalists placed since 2017; 100,000+ stories published; nearly $60 million raised for partner newsrooms
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• Washington State University (Murrow College of Communication)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026WSU and Report for America launched an ambitious partnership to cover every one of Washington's 39 counties by 2029. The five-year, $10 million initiative will place reporters in communities throughout Washington for two- to three-year assignments. This first-of-its-kind collaboration brings together Washington's land-grant university and the nation's leading nonprofit for placing journalists.
• Press ForwardcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Press Forward is supporting the WSU Murrow Fellows/Report for Washington partnership. Report for America also collaborates with Press Forward Blue Grass to strengthen democracy and foster civic engagement in Central Kentucky.
• The Associated PresscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Report for America is renewing its partnership with The Associated Press, supporting new statehouse and other positions in Arkansas, Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Texas. Over the course of the partnership, RFA has helped expand state government coverage by fielding 49 statehouse positions across the country.
• High Country NewscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Partnership for the Western Environmental Reporting Collaborative with coverage spanning four states: Arizona, Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming. Corps members spend quarter of their time producing regional Indigenous and environmental coverage in collaboration with High Country News.
• Howard UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2025Howard University is a collegiate partner in Report for America's Local News Internship program. Student Boris Turner interned at The Baltimore Beat through this partnership.
• University of Texas at AustinminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2025University of Texas at Austin is a collegiate partner in Report for America's Local News Internship program. Student Maryam Ahmed interned at The Austin American-Statesman.
• Wayne State UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2025Wayne State University is a collegiate partner in Report for America's Local News Internship program. Student Johnathan Shephard interned at Bridge Detroit.
• Florida A&M UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2025Florida A&M University is a collegiate partner in Report for America's Local News Internship program. Student Jazzmin Sutherland interned at WFSU.
• California State University, Los AngelesminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2025Cal State LA is a collegiate partner in Report for America's Local News Internship program. Student Steven Lopez interned at The LA Public Press.
• Mississippi River Basin Ag and Water DeskcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Report for America is expanding its partnership with the Mississippi River Basin Ag and Water Desk. This year, the Desk will add six additional positions in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Louisiana. The program provides coverage of agriculture, water, and environmental issues.
• Native American Journalists AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Partnership to support 19 reporting positions across the country that focus on or include Indigenous affairs. This groundbreaking initiative strengthens local journalism in areas where Indigenous peoples play vital roles in the community.

Scale indicators16 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• The 19th News: Nonprofit newsroom covering gender, politics, and policy with foundation funding. Comparable nonprofit-journalism model addressing under-covered beats and communities, with similar funder mix and audience-mission focus.
• Spotlight PA: Nonprofit, collaborative statehouse-focused investigative newsroom serving Pennsylvania. Represents the kind of statewide RFA partner model (akin to the WSU/Washington expansion) and serves as both a comparable nonprofit news outlet and a host newsroom type.
• Hearken: Public-media focused audience engagement platform working with local newsrooms on community-driven reporting. Comparable in its newsroom-services orientation, though focused on engagement tools rather than direct journalist placement.
• Block Club Chicago: Nonprofit local newsroom that has hosted Report for America corps members and operates a similar donor-supported model for neighborhood-level accountability journalism.
• Solutions Journalism Network: Nonprofit that trains and supports journalists in rigorous reporting on responses to social problems. Comparable in capacity-building approach for local newsrooms, though method-focused rather than placement-focused.

Broad incumbents

• Lenfest Institute for Journalism: Philanthropy-funded nonprofit dedicated to sustaining local journalism, primarily supporting the Philadelphia Inquirer. Comparable nonprofit funding approach and local-news sustainability mission, though via direct ownership rather than placement.
• Knight Foundation: The largest U.S. journalism-focused foundation and RFA's biggest disclosed funder. Operates in the same local-news ecosystem but as a grantmaker rather than a direct service provider.
• ProPublica: Largest U.S. investigative-journalism nonprofit, supported by foundation and individual donations. Operates a similar nonprofit-journalism funding model but focuses on national investigative reporting rather than local placement.

Direct peers

• Report for the World: Sibling national service program under the same Report Local (formerly GroundTruth Project) umbrella, placing journalists in newsrooms internationally. Closest direct peer given identical placement-and-salary-support model.
• City Bureau: Chicago-based nonprofit civic journalism organization that trains and places reporters in local newsrooms to cover underreported communities — directly comparable mission, geographic focus, and reporter-placement mechanic.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/report4america

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Report for America