We're rebuilding local news — from the ground up.
Despite increasing threats to local news, we’ve persisted.
In 2022, as the world emerged from a global pandemic, the health of our industry — and democracy — remained significantly at risk. Newsrooms continued to close at a rapid pace. Authoritarian governments and conflict pushed many others into exile.
Despite this, our corps members were pillars of their communities. They told stories that would otherwise go untold. They held individuals and systems accountable. In doing so, they helped rebuild trust in local independent journalism across the globe.
The year was marked with many milestones, including celebrating the fifth anniversary of Report for America’s launch and its first in-person gathering since the pandemic’s start. Likewise, Report for the World doubled in size in its second year.
On The Ground
“Alharaca” is an insult directed towards a woman that means she is being over-sensitive and over-emotional about an issue. Alharaca reclaims this, providing strong journalism with a feminist perspective that covers the intersection of journalism, art, academia, and technology. Based in El Salvador, this women-led digital news platform covers current affairs and how they affect not just women, but all Salvadorean society.
For more than 10 years Etilaat Roz was the most widely circulated daily newspaper in Kabul, establishing itself as a hard-hitting investigative journalism organization, focused on systemic corruption in Afghanistan. But when the Taliban took power, the newsroom was forced into exile. Despite this, Etilaat Roz continues to put out strong journalism that seeks to advance a free press in Afghanistan.
Convoca is an investigative journalism organization founded in 2014 by reporters, data analysts, and programmers in Peru to merge the best of traditional reporting with the intelligent use of databases, a multidisciplinary perspective and new digital narratives to systematically investigate the networks of political and corporate power that affect the lives of citizens.
Quinto Elemento Lab is an independent journalism nonprofit that produces investigative stories that aim to empower citizens, strengthen accountability and help build a more just and transparent society. Inequality, impunity and corruption are still leaving a mark in Mexico. That’s one of the reasons why Quinto Elemento focuses on investigations that shed light on the inequalities, abuses and failures of the powerful as well as the inequality in the exercise of citizen’s rights.
Ukrainska Pravda is an online news and analysis website founded by Georgiy Gongadze on 16 April 2000. Published from Kyiv in Ukrainian, Russian and English, it has become a reference for independent journalism in Ukraine during the Russian invasion.
Launched in 2017, The Citizen Bulletin is a digital-first newsroom that produces hard-hitting longform reporting for the greater region of Matabeleland, south-western Zimbabwe. We cover core news and focus on special-interest beats such as public health, education and environment. We are a fully distributed team that is dedicated to mission-driven high-quality journalism that cuts through the noise.
Átlátszó is the first Hungarian investigative journalism nonprofit and a watchdog NGO to promote transparency, accountability, and freedom of information in Hungary.
Founded in 2011 by women reporters, Agência Pública is the first non-profit investigative news agency in Brazil. Their focus is to investigate the public administration, including all levels of government and congressional houses; the social and environmental impact of corporations and corrupt and anti-transparent practices; the efficacy, transparency, and equity of the justice system; and the violence against vulnerable communities in urban and rural areas. Their reporting has been recognized with over 50 national and international journalism awards. Including the Ibero-American Gabriel Garcia Márquez Award and the Premio Roche Award for Health Reporting.
The Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) is an independent, not-for-profit organization that combats injustice, holds power to account and speaks for the voiceless. Founded in June 2020, FIJ seeks to uncover the truth by bypassing officialdom and neutralizing propaganda, and making it accessible to the public in a way that eases and influences their everyday decision making.
The News Minute is a digital news platform covering India, with a specific focus on the five southern states of the country. Headquartered in Bengaluru, TNM has ground reporters in all the southern states covering a wide range of issues and events.
for
America
In 2022, our program placed hundreds of journalists in local newsrooms throughout the country to cover significant news gaps and under-covered groups. We’ve helped these newsrooms raise record donations from their communities to sustainably support their work. And we’re diversifying America’s newsrooms as one of the nation’s leading recruiters of talented journalists of color.
Kim Kleman
Executive Director, Report for America
Supporting Local Fundraising
Report for America provides local newsrooms with sustainable fundraising tools to thrive in a challenging economic landscape. Since 2019, our team has helped our newsroom partners raise nearly $21 million from their communities.
Lionel Ramos
An Oklahoma Watch review of more than 100 complaints, apartment unit tours and interviews with residents paint a portrait of unsafe and substandard living conditions for many Afghan refugees who resettled in Oklahoma City and Tulsa — including reports of mice, roaches, leaking sewage, no heating, and frequent break-ins. Corps member Lionel Ramos wrote about the living conditions for Oklahoma Watch; his reporting prompted the governor of Oklahoma to tour the apartments.
Maysoon Khan
A gunman killed 10 people in a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. Shortly after, the New York state legislature barred bullet-resistant vests to most civilians, but corps member Maysoon Khan found that the new rules didn’t cover the type of body armor worn by the gunman in Buffalo. Khan’s reporting brought the loophole to the attention of a wider audience, and as a result, New York state said it would make changes to the legislation.
Annie Berman
As Alaska faced one of the largest increases in overdose deaths the year prior, calls mounted for the Anchorage Police Department to start carrying the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone. Corps member Annie Berman found that the Anchorage police don’t carry Narcan, a drug that can reverse the effects of a drug overdose. After Berman’s story, public outcry forced the Anchorage police to reevaluate its policy on not carrying Narcan.
Melissa Montalvo
Corps member Melissa Montalvo at The Fresno Bee launched the inaugural Youth Media Collective, a ten-week journalism bootcamp for local students. Over the course of the Spring 2022 semester, a group of about 4–6 students met every other Saturday morning for two hours to learn about journalism skills and careers.
In partnership with the Jaraka Movement and supported by Report for America, Montalvo taught students the basics of journalism. After finishing their journalism projects over the summer, students published their work on Medium.
for
the World
It was an honor to join Report for the World as its inaugural global director in July 2022. By September, Report for the World expanded to eight countries, with new partnerships in Mexico, Peru, Zimbabwe, Hungary, and Ukraine — our first instance of supporting a journalist and newsroom partner in a conflict zone.
In December 2022, we held our first-ever in-person professional development gathering, in São Paolo, Brazil. Corps members, newsroom editors and Report for the World staff gathered to explore methods of investigating environmental stories with local-global connections.
Preethi Nallu
Global Director, Report for the World
Building a Global Corps
Melody Mpande
In rural Zimbabwe, a bucket of water can be the difference between life and death. Mpande reported how Garanyemba Clinic had been operating without running water for years and was asking patients, particularly pregnant women, to bring a bucket of water to their procedures or be denied service. Sabelo Dube, an expectant mother was sent back home when she went for a prenatal check up, being told “No water bucket, no treatment”.
Mpande reached out to the local councilman Miclas Ndlovu for comment and he assured that “We are working with our partner, Dabane Trust, towards buying a submersible pump to draw water from the river to the clinic tanks so that we address the problem.”
Dymtro Simonov
Hundreds of stories come out of Ukraine every week, but few are as important for the future of the country as Simonov’s.
In March, Simonov reported on how the Russians had opened the hydraulic shutters of the largest reservoir in Ukraine, lowering the water level to a point where it not only threatened the wildlife but also risked a nuclear incident by depleting a nearby nuclear plant, controlled by the Russians, from the water needed to cool it’s reactors.
Gabriela Martínez
Most of the news coverage of the migrants crossing the border between Mexico and the United States focuses on their impact on the political fortunes of one party or the other. Martínez flips that narrative by reporting on the human cost of policies of governments on both sides and portraying migrants as real, complex, people. From a former teacher who was displaced by narcos and found his calling again by teaching children stranded at the border, to memorializing dozens of migrants who have lost their lives in the attempt of crossing the border, Martínez uplifts individuals and their stories through her coverage.
In 2022, our staff of 52 spanned 21 states and Washington, D.C., bringing a range of nonprofit, operations, and journalism experience. Meet the people who make all this work possible here.
I found my own way to The GroundTruth Project while searching for ways to strengthen our democracy and understanding that a free and functioning media ecosystem is vital. First chief operating officer, then as a board member, I watched our flagship programs tackle critical challenges plaguing our industry during the past year. Report for America, under the leadership of Kim Kleman, not only fielded more than 300 corps members across the United States and its territories, but it also did so with its most diverse corps yet. Nearly half of our journalists are persons of color — a powerful opportunity to build trust with under-served communities and invite new kinds of coverage! And we couldn’t have been more proud as an organization when our efforts were highlighted by “60 Minutes,” one of television’s most iconic shows, as a solution to the growing crisis in local news.
Meanwhile, Report for the World welcomed its first global director, Preethi Nallu, who hit the ground running. She oversaw two major expansions to our global program, spread the word about our mission through outlets like Poynter and LatAm Journalism Review, and more — like leading a panel discussion at the International Press Institute’s World Congress. Looking ahead, we will continue to expand the number of countries we are in and develop a framework for regional collaboration.
Of course, all of this work would not be possible without so many of you who understand that without trusted, independent journalism, democracy is at risk. While we reflect here on our past successes, we invite you to support the next wave of our work as we continue to invest in effective, powerful programs to protect our communities and their interests.
Thank you. Your support means everything to us.
Rob Zeaske
CEO And President
The GroundTruth Project
Home of Report for America and Report for the World
2022 Donor Recognition
$250,000 - $2M
Anonymous
Arthur Vining Davis Foundation
Bake Family Trust
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Google News Initiative
Knight Foundation
Lumina Foundation
Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies
Meta Journalism Project
Microsoft
Natasha and Dirk Ziff
Posner Foundation
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Spring Point Partners
The Hearthland Foundation
The Just Trust
$50,000 - $249,999
Anonymous
Annie E. Casey Foundation
Commonwealth Fund
Craig Newmark Philanthropies
David Feinberg
Heising-Simons Foundation
Henry Kimelman Family Foundation
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Jonathan Logan Family Foundation
Kresge Foundation
Park Foundation
Patrick Sullivan
Robert E. Sullivan
Robin D’Alessandro
Select Equity
The Chicago Community Trust
The Peter and Carmen Lucia Buck Foundation
Tow Foundation
University of Missouri School of Journalism and the Walton Family Foundation
W. K. Kellogg Foundation
Wyncote Foundation
$5,000-$49,999
Ann Vaughan
Anonymous
Around The Table Foundation
Catchlight
Dan and Christine Quinn Family Foundation
Ellen Tykeson and Ken Hiday
Emily Del Greco
Gannett Foundation
James Lundy
Journalismfund.eu
Laurie David
Malcolm Hewitt Wiener
Melville Trust
Mostyn Foundation
Rob and Jessica Zeaske
Rosabeth Moss Kanter
Samuel Rubin Foundation
Susie Trees
The Barinaga Goodman Fund of West Marin Fund
The Steven M. and Joyce E. Tadler Charitable Trust
The Weinreich Family Charitable Fund
Townsend Fund
Report for the World local newsroom supporters ($5,000+)
Indira Foundation
Nilima and Vivek Ragavan
Report for America local newsroom supporters ($5,000+)
Akron Community Foundation
Ameren Corporation
Amon G. Carter Star-Telegram Employees Fund
Amy Mucha Household
Ashland County Community Foundation
Barry Community Foundation
Bill and Jane Kean Anderson Fund
Blue Grass Community Foundation
Blumenthal Foundation
Central Indiana Community Foundation
Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
Coachella Valley Wellness Foundation
Community Foundation of Chattahoochee Valley
Community Foundation of Louisville
Dan and Christine Quinn Family Foundation
Dorothy Byrne Household
Gadsby Fund Household
George 'Pretty' Wallace Jones and Thomas W. Jones Fund
Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation
Harvey H. Posner and Mary S. Posner Fund
Henry Kimelman Family Foundation
Highpoint Community Bank
Hudson-Webber Foundation
Inasmuch Foundation
Innovia Foundation
J. D. Heiskell & Co. Household
Jane Kitchel McLaughlin and Peter McLaughlin Household
Julia Ardery and Bill Bishop Household
Lumina Foundation
Melville Trust
New Hampshire Charitable Foundation
Newman's Own Foundation
Nicholas T. and Marcia I. Lappas Household
North Texas Community Foundation
Pamela Ann Wickham Household
Princeton Area Community Foundation
Robert W. Deutsch Foundation
Sarah and Ben Bailey Family Fund Household
Stanislaus Community Foundation
The Heinz Endowments
The Jules L. Plangere, Jr. Family Foundation, Inc.
The Lozier Foundation
Triangle Community Foundation, Inc.
William F. Harnisch Foundation, Inc.
Note: In 2022, Rebuild Local News Coalition created its own 501(c)3 entity, Rebuild Local News. Thank you to the funders that supported Rebuild’s work in 2022: Microsoft, Yellow Chair Foundation, Posner Foundation, Argosy Foundation, American Journalism Project, Lenfest Institute for Journalism, Revson Foundation, Gates Family Foundation, and Ford Foundation.
WHAT YOU SUPPORT
Revenue and Expenses
The difference between revenues and expenses in 2022 includes a gift that will be recognized in 2023 and a draw on reserves during a founder transition year that was made to ensure program continuity.
Thank you
Thank you to all our supporters in 2022, who helped us grow when local news ecosystems were challenged in the U.S. and across the world. We are so grateful to have you with us as we restore journalism from the ground up.
Photo credits (in order of appearance): 1. Aryana Noroozi / Black Voice News, Report for America and Catchlight 2. Sam Wilson / Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Report for America 3. Olivia Sun / The Colorado Sun, Report for America 4. Arnoldo Sete / Marco Zero, Report for America