The United States faces a profound and accelerating crisis in local journalism. Since 2005, nearly 3,500 newspapers have closed, leaving one in every four Americans with limited access to essential civic information. As “news deserts” expand, the consequences extend beyond the journalism sector by weakening civic engagement, reducing government accountability, and limiting public access to trusted information
Public media remains a critical pillar of this local news information infrastructure, reaching more than 90% of U.S. counties, including 82% of communities identified as news deserts. Yet these organizations are now facing mounting financial strain. Stations that once depended on federal support, particularly in rural and tribal regions, face growing uncertainty. In states such as Alaska, where federal funding has historically accounted for up to 40% of station budgets, these losses place both local journalism and essential emergency communications at significant risk.
In response to these challenges, AVDF has prioritized investments that strengthen public media local journalism. One such effort is the partnership with Report Local, formerly The GroundTruth Project, which houses Report for America (RfA). In 2022, AVDF awarded a three-year, $250,000 grant to support RfA’s work placing emerging journalists—known as corps members—at public media stations across the country.
Through this grant, AVDF supported the placement of seven journalists in public radio newsrooms, including Nebraska Public Radio, KERA/The Texas Newsroom, WITF, KOSU, WUSF, Georgia Public Broadcasting, and WABE. These placements expanded coverage of rural healthcare, Latino communities, environmental challenges, regional economic conditions, and more. At the same time, they strengthened newsroom operations and deepened engagement with local audiences. The initiative also contributed to diversifying the journalism workforce, with several corps members identifying as journalists of color.
The grant outcomes demonstrate both scale and effectiveness. Six of the seven corps members completed their full three-year terms, and five secured ongoing roles within their host organizations. Collectively, the journalists produced nearly twice the expected volume of reporting, averaging approximately 90 stories per year. Their work received national recognition, including awards for solutions-based journalism, multimedia storytelling, and audio reporting.
Beyond newsroom output, the initiative advanced civic learning and media literacy. Corps members led workshops, classroom collaborations, and mentorship activities that reached hundreds of students directly and thousands more through broader educational programming. For example, a reporting initiative at WUSF engaged middle school students in producing their own audio journalism, fostering both technical skills and a deeper understanding of local media.
RfA complemented these placements with a robust system of professional development and institutional support. In parallel, RfA expanded its Local News Sustainability team, enabling participating stations to raise more than $5.3 million, more than ten times the program’s original fundraising target.
At the same time, the initiative revealed structural challenges within the local news landscape. Some host organizations faced limitations in editorial capacity or financial stability, prompting RfA to launch its Newsroom Accelerator program and expand fiscal sponsorship services. These interventions equipped newsrooms with tools to improve revenue diversification, strengthen leadership capacity, and pursue long-term sustainability.
Building on these results, AVDF awarded Report Local a second grant of $300,000 in 2025 to support RfA’s Public Media Initiative. This effort responds directly to the loss of federal funding for public broadcasting and aims to preserve critical reporting capacity in vulnerable communities. The initiative will support 30 journalists in public media newsrooms nationwide, ensuring continued access to fact-based reporting in regions at risk of losing essential coverage.
Looking ahead, the initiative combines immediate intervention with long-term strategy. It prioritizes newsroom sustainability, workforce development, and community engagement, while also tracking the evolving impact of funding disruptions across the sector. Since its founding, RfA has placed more than 750 journalists in hundreds of newsrooms, producing over 100,000 stories. Notably, the majority of its alumni remain in journalism, reinforcing its role as a pipeline for public service media.
“Our partnership with Report Local’s Report for America program has already demonstrated considerable impact. As public media faces unprecedented challenges in the wake of federal funding cuts, Report for America’s Public Media Initiative represents a timely and critical solution. This initiative will help preserve trusted reporting, foster civic participation, and ensure that communities continue to have access to reliable, fact-based local news,” said Miica Patterson, AVDF Associate Director of Communications and Board Relations.
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