Report for America (RFA) has named public media station WUFT, housed at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC), as one of its 2024 newsroom partners. The RFA reporter will join WUFT in summer 2024 and help bolster the new Florida Environment & Ag Desk in the College’s Innovation News Center.

Report for America is a national service program that places talented emerging journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered topics and communities across the United States.

The Florida Environment & Ag Desk will help train student journalists in specializations including water, climate, farming and rural issues statewide—all in demand as newsrooms around the nation expand coverage of climate change and other environmental pressures.

RFA selected WUFT and the new desk for one of the 52 new reporting corps positions across the United States. More than a third of those positions are focused on rural communities, addressing news deserts that have spread amid the collapse of local newspapers nationwide.

“The region where our students train is home to the last major undammed river east of the Mississippi; the largest concentration of freshwater springs in the world; and one of the least developed coastlines in Florida, all bordered by vibrant rural communities, farmlands and encroaching growth,” said Cynthia Barnett, UFCJC Journalism senior lecturer and director of Climate and Environment Reporting Initiatives. “The stories need amplifying, and the training ground is perfect for the next generation of environmental journalists. The Report for America position will help our College build trust, quench a severe news desert, and make sure rural voices are heard.”

Journalists who come through the RFA program “find not just a job, but a calling,” said Earl Johnson, the organization’s vice president of recruitment and alumni engagement, “a perfect opportunity to make a profound difference where it matters most.”

The deadline to apply for the positions across the country is Jan. 31, 2024. RFA is hosting several information sessions between now and then. To learn more, visit reportforamerica.org/apply or contact a member of the recruitment team at recruitment@reportforamerica.org

In 2021, CJC alumna Katie Hyson joined WUFT as a Report for America journalist, focusing on focusing on racial justice issues in East Gainesville, Florida.

Posted: December 7, 2023
Category: College News
Tagged as: climate, Cynthia Barnett, Innovation News Center, Report for America