The Fort Worth Star-Telegram will expand local reporting through this new partnership

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram will add two reporters to its ranks next year through a partnership with Report for America, a nonprofit program whose mission is to help provide reporting on under-covered issues and communities.

One of the reporters will focus on the city of Arlington, covering issues such as the redevelopment of its downtown, crime prevention and the development of the entertainment district around AT&T Stadium, among other things.

The goal will be to help Arlington residents be more informed and engaged, and to provide accountability for the city’s leadership.

The second reporter will cover environmental issues surrounding the rapid growth of Fort Worth and Tarrant County, including topics such as land use, flooding, water supply and more. The goal will be to generate conversation and provide accountability around smart development.

Publisher Ryan Mote said he is excited that Report for America recognized the Star-Telegram’s plans and ability to fill coverage gaps in such important areas.

“With the ongoing challenges the news industry faces, grant programs such as Report for America allow us to expand our coverage into areas and subjects we might not otherwise be able to cover,” he said. “We are extremely appreciative of this opportunity to serve our community with new content.”

Report for America will provide half the salary of each reporter, with the expectation that the Star-Telegram funds one-quarter of the salary and raises funding for the remainder of the reporter’s salary from sources in the community.

Executive Editor Steve Coffman said news organizations across the country are increasingly turning to philanthropic sources to supplement coverage of important topics and communities.

“We’re honored that Report for America has placed its confidence in us to be good stewards of its funding to promote quality local journalism,” he said. “We expect to explore similar opportunities and partnerships with other organizations that see the critical value of professional, independent local journalism.”

Coffman emphasized that under the Report for America program — or any other philanthropic funding arrangement — the Star-Telegram will make all decisions about coverage in order to maintain the newspaper’s journalistic integrity and credibility.

“That will be a foundational element of any opportunity we explore,” he said.

Coffman noted that programs such as Report for America are intended as a supplement to the newspaper’s own commitment to local journalism. The Star-Telegram, for example, is currently hiring several journalists to cover topics such as education and investigative reporting, he said.

Report for America is a program administered by The GroundTruth Project, which “is structured to harness the skill and idealism of an emerging group of journalists plus the creative spirit of local news organizations,” according to the Report for America website.

“We offer a pretty simple fix for news holes in communities throughout the country — local reporters on the ground, who hold leaders accountable and report on under-covered issues,” Steven Waldman, president and co-founder of Report for America, said in a news release. “The editors we’ve met during our application cycle have shown us amazing passion, commitment and sharp ideas for how to better serve their local communities.”

The program will place 250 journalists in 164 news organizations across 46 states in the coming year, according to the news release. The journalists will start work in June and be in place for one to two years.

Report for America has received funding from sources such as The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Facebook, Google News Initiative, Ford Foundation, Galloway Family Foundation, Natasha and Dirk Ziff, The Tow Foundation, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Heising-Simons Foundation, Select Equity Group Foundation, the Annenberg Foundation, Ethics and Excellence in Journalism, Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, The Joyce Foundation, The Steans Family Foundation, Henry M. Kimelman Family Foundation and the Duo Collective, according to its website.