Organization announces funding for 250 local journalists

NEW YORK – The struggling local news industry got a boost Monday.

Report for America says it will fund the hiring of 250 journalists in newsrooms across 46 states over the next year. It will guide $5 million in funding from foundations to help pay the salaries of the reporters.

That’s a sharp increase from the 61 journalists put in the field this year by Report for America, an initiative of the GroundTruth Project.

With the help of foundation funding, Report for America pays half the salary of these reporters for two years.

The announcement illustrates recognition of what the loss in local journalism jobs has meant for communities. The University of North Carolina estimates that roughly 30,000 newsroom jobs have been lost over the past 15 years.