Henrico Citizen to add new community vitality reporter through partnership with Report for America

For the second time in four years, the Henrico Citizen has been selected to serve as a host newsroom for the national Report for America program.

Through the national nonprofit service program, the Citizen and 65 other host newsrooms nationwide will add new full-time journalists in 2025 to cover critical and underserved beats. RFA officials made the announcement Dec. 17.

The Citizen will hire a full-time community vitality reporter to cover the interrelated issues of housing, transportation and health in Henrico County, beginning in July.

When it added an education reporter through RFA in 2021, the Citizen became just the second Virginia newsroom chosen to participate in the program. On Tuesday, it became the first in the state selected to host two separate reporting positions through RFA. (News organizations must apply to the program and explain why their proposed beats are critical to the communities they serve.)

RFA currently counts about 200 newsrooms and 250 reporters among its ranks.

As part of the two-year program (which includes an option for a third), RFA will match for a full year – dollar for dollar – every tax-deductible donation made in support of the Citizen’s new position, up to $25,000. (To make a donation, click here.) It will continue to provide partial funding for the position in the second and (if applicable) third years, as well.

The Citizen’s affiliation with RFA for its education beat will end in July at the conclusion of its third full year housing that beat.

“For more than three years, we’ve sought to add a full-time reporter to cover these three critical topics,” Citizen Publisher Tom Lappas said, “so we couldn’t be any more excited to receive this news. It’s no secret that the housing market in Henrico is challenging for a wide variety of people, and access to reliable housing is a leading factor in health outcomes. The availability of reliable transportation – whether vehicular, public, active or other modes – also is a key topic of interest countywide, and the pandemic unveiled a number of health disparities in Henrico that deserve more in-depth examination.

“We’re eager to welcome our new reporter aboard to explore these issues in greater detail.”

In addition to helping fund the new reporting positions for its partners, RFA also delivers a wide range of benefits to its corps members, such as ongoing training and mentorship by leading journalists; peer networking; and memberships to select professional organizations.

“Today’s news marks an exciting expansion of our proven model,” said Kim Kleman, executive director of Report for America. “Not only are we recruiting and placing exceptional journalists in communities that need them most, but we’re significantly increasing our efforts to help newsrooms become more financially stable.”

Corps members will be selected from a highly competitive national applicant pool. Last year, more than 1,000 journalists applied for the available positions. Those hired become employees of their respective newsrooms and will begin their employment July 7. Interested journalists are encouraged to attend an information session and explore the benefits of becoming a corps member by clicking here.

All contributions made through RFA in support of the Citizen’s existing RFA education position and the new community vitality position are 100% tax-deductible. Through a separate partnership with RFA, Citizen supporters (individuals, companies or foundations, among others) also can make general tax-deductible contributions to support the Citizen’s journalism.

“Since our program started, we've seen first hand the impact of helping newsrooms tell their story to help their community better understand the roles and benefits of local news. People are stepping up to generate new ways to fund newsrooms across the country," said Morgan Baum, director of local news sustainability at Report for America.