Putting Journalists To Work At Local Papers

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While several major newspapers have found a new source of revenue from digital subscribers far from their home base, local newspapers are hurting as subscribers and advertisers flee. To survive, they are cutting staffs to the bone. An organization called Report for America has been created to finance one-year stipends for professional journalists who would like the experience of working for a local paper. Applications from both reporters and editors have flooded in. On this edition of the National Press Club's podcast, Update-1, Broadcast/Podcast Committee member Irv Chapman interview the co-founder of Report for America, Steven Waldman, who explains how the site work. Waldman, a former reporter and editor for Newsweek and U.S. News and creator of the successful web site, BeliefNet, discusses the role of philanthropy in advancing journalism.