Citizen adding new education reporter in July

Through its ongoing partnership with Report for America, a national journalism service program, the Henrico Citizen will add a new full-time education reporter to its staff beginning July 10.

Liana Hardy will join the Citizen to cover all aspects of education in Henrico County – helping to explain what school board decisions mean for students and families, providing in-depth, proactive reporting about hyperlocal communities and educational programs, and exploring topics of economic, geographic and racial equity. Hardy is a Northern Virginia native who is graduating in May from Georgetown University, where she has spent four years working in a variety of capacities for the university’s student newspaper, The Hoya.

In her application, Liana wrote “I love that Report for America allows emerging journalists the opportunity to report on underreported communities for local papers that are doing work that is so integral to American journalism. Some of the best stories I’ve read are locally-focused stories that investigate issues in a smaller community that reflect larger national or broader human problems.”

In 2021, the Citizen became just the second Virginia news organization selected to participate in the program, which is designed to place journalists into local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities.

Hardy is one of about 60 new Report for America corps members joining participating news outlets this year. Since its launch in 2017, Report for America has now matched more than 600 journalists with local newspapers, public radio stations, digital platforms, and television outlets.

Report for America also leverages an innovative three-to-one regional funding match model, paying up to half of a corps member's salary, while its local sustainability team trains newsroom partners to raise the other half from local funders. This approach promotes collaborative investment in local journalism, increasing the chances of sustaining watchdog community reporting, for the community, by the community.

To make a tax-deductible contribution to support this position and the Citizen's education coverage, click here.