BOSTON — Report for the World announced today the placement of nine journalists for its 2021 reporting corps. The program is now supporting 15 journalists across three countries in its first year.
Two local journalists, or “corps members,” will join the staff at Marco Zero and two at InfoAmazonia in Brazil. Three will join the staff at The Wire in India, and two will join Premium Times in Nigeria.
Report for the World, an initiative of the nonprofit organization The GroundTruth Project, is an international service program that matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe.
“After we announced our first cohort of journalists, the message from local news organizations around the world was loud and clear: To sustainably serve our communities, we need more help, and we need more reporters,” said Kevin Grant, co-founder and chief content officer of GroundTruth. “And it’s no surprise that almost half of the journalists will be covering health or the environment.”
The application process was highly competitive, with over 500 applicants, but only nine spots available. The corps members, who will become full-time employees of the newsrooms for up to three years, are:
- Aathira Perinchery, covering the environment for The Wire
- Arnaldo Sete, photographer for Marco Zero
- Banjot Kaur, covering health for The Wire
- Chiamaka Okafor, covering the Nigerian diaspora for Premium Times
- Fábio Bispo, covering climate change and environmental policies for InfoAmazonia
- Giovanna Carneiro, covering the environment and social impact of development for Marco Zero
- Julia Dolce, covering Indigenous peoples and other traditional populations for InfoAmazonia
- Kaushal Shroff, covering political economy for The Wire
- Qosim Suleiman, covering education for Premium Times
“India has never needed an independent, free press as much as it does today. When the media in India is trimming its sails, partnering with Report for the World has given us the confidence to grow our own staff by three journalists, and that marks a good day for journalism in India, and a good day for our democracy,” said Siddharth Varadarajan, founding editor of The Wire.
Report for the World corps members join their newsrooms this month after having completed world-class training in journalism safety, cyber security, international collaboration and story design. They will continue to receive regular training and mentorship throughout the year from GroundTruth staff.
Corps members will cover a range of topics and stories, such as the environment, education and health. In a Report for the World first, two of them are multimedia reporters and one is a photographer. The group also includes a rap and music researcher, a former teacher, and a Thomson Reuters Foundation alumna.
“Brazil is currently experiencing one of its greatest setbacks in environmental legislation and in relation to the rights of its traditional peoples. Denouncing the erosion of these rights is urgent, and I am excited about the opportunity to do so with InfoAmazonia through Report for the World,” said Julia Dolce, a corps member covering Indigenous peoples.
India has never needed an independent, free press as much as it does today. When the media in India is trimming its sails, partnering with Report for the World has given us the confidence to grow our own staff by three journalists, and that marks a good day for journalism in India, and a good day for our democracy.
Report for the World draws upon best practices learned from GroundTruth’s successful Report for America program, which will be announcing its latest selection of newsroom partners this month.
Likewise, Report for the World is based on a highly-leveraged financial model meant to inspire community philanthropy. The program will pay for half the full-time salary of a corps member for the first year, while coaching and supporting local partner newsrooms to raise the other half of the salary through philanthropy, earned revenue and crowdfunding.
Report for the World will open a call for new host newsroom partners around the world in 2022, and aims to support 500 corps members in 25 countries by 2026.
The GroundTruth Project, home to Report for the World, is supported in its global efforts by the Google News Initiative, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Bake Family Trust, the Henry Luce Foundation, Robin D’Alessandro, Susie Trees and Maurice and Carol Feinberg Family Foundation.
About Report for the World
Report for the World is an international journalism program that matches local newsrooms with talented journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe. An initiative of The GroundTruth Project, Report for the World launched in February 2021 in India and Nigeria and placed its first-ever cohort of corps members in May 2021. Its sister program Report for America supports 300 corps members in more than 200 news organizations across the United States.
Media Contact:
Michael Karam, Communications Officer
mkaram@reportfortheworld.org, +1 (978) 689-5089