Since the middle of last century, the craft of journalism has been in decline. According to some experts, this decline has been the result of an increasingly intensifying leftward slide. Now, forces on the left have taken to shoring up their failing industry and the impact will be felt in Oregon.

The Oregonian/OregonLive is reporting that it has been selected to host a new Report for America corps member journalist beginning in June 2022.

According to the Portland based print and daily, the addition of this reporter, "will enable The Oregonian/OregonLive to expand its education coverage to focus deeply on early childhood programs and literacy education in kindergarten and first- and second-grade."

According to its website Report for America says that "the collapse of local journalism has created a crisis for democracy. Residents no longer get the information they need to understand the critical issues facing their community, to make good decisions for their family, and hold elected officials accountable. Charles Sennott formerly of the Boston Globe is the Executive Director of Report for America.

"Report for America is a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. An initiative of the nonprofit media organization, The GroundTruth Project, it is structured to harness the skills and idealism of an emerging group of journalists plus the creative spirit of local news organizations." They "aim to place 1,000 reporters by 2024 and strive to fundamentally transform local news business models and ecosystems."

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Influence Watch reports that "Report for America is a joint project of Google News Lab and The GroundTruth Project, both organizations associated with the political left-of-center. The GroundTruth Project was founded in 2014 to train foreign correspondents. It is cosponsored by Google News Lab. GroundTruth Project has taken funding from a number of left-of-center institutional funders, including the Packard Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Knight Foundation."

The Google News Lab describes its mission "is to collaborate with journalists and entrepreneurs to drive innovation in news. Offering partnerships and training in over 50 countries, the News Lab brings the best of Google technology to tackle important challenges in journalism today." It also identifies the challenge of fighting misinformation as one of its priorities.

The Northwest Observer has received no such grants.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2021-12-08 08:53:37

Last Update: 2021-12-08 10:12:18