The Sun News receives grant to add coverage in Georgetown County, homelessness in MB
The Sun News is one of 164 newsrooms across the country to receive funding from Report for America to add more journalists in local newsrooms, according to an announcement made Monday morning.
The Sun News is receiving funding for two additional reporters. One reporter will focus on poverty, homelessness and affordability in the Myrtle Beach area. The other position will focus on Georgetown County and the challenges the county and coastal cities face while balancing growth and climate change.
Report for America is a national service program that provides support for newsrooms to cover important topics in their communities for one to two years. It provides partial funding for the positions, and the newsrooms are asked to raise the remainder of their salaries through community funding.
“Today’s news marks the single biggest hiring announcement of journalists in recent memory — and comes as a direct response to the worsening crisis in local news across the country,” a news release from RFA stated.
RFA is funding the positions with more than $5 million to support local newsrooms. The program receives funding from many individual donors and organizations including The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Ford Foundation, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, the Annenberg Foundation, The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and The Joyce Foundation.
“These are two very important topics I’m thrilled we’ll soon be able to do a better job covering in our community,” general manager and executive editor Stephanie Pedersen said. “I consistently get feedback from our readers who desire more than breaking or crime news from Georgetown County.
“And I believe the stories of poverty, which often drive our drug and opioid problems on the Grand Strand, are some of the most important ones we’ll write.”
In total, RFA is placing 250 journalists in 164 news organizations across 46 states in 2020. Journalists will also be added to newsrooms in Rock Hill, Columbia, Hilton Head and the Associated Press bureau in Columbia as part of this effort.
Applications to be one of the journalists part of the RFA program are being accepted through Jan. 31.
To learn more about how you can be involved in this effort, please email executive editor Stephanie Pedersen at spedersen@thesunnews.com.
This story was originally published December 2, 2019 at 8:37 AM.