NEW YORK/DETROIT, Dec. 7, 2023 — Report for America has announced the selection of  Planet Detroit as a host newsroom partner while opening applications for just over 50 new reporting corps positions across the United States.

“We have placed a bet on these newsrooms that with our help, they will become beacons of the whole industry,” said Kim Kleman, executive director of Report for America. “They know the coverage they need to serve their communities better. With our help in recruiting talented early-career journalists, paying part of their salary, and working with newsrooms to become more sustainable, we expect exciting results.”

Newsrooms nationwide were asked to define the most compelling gaps in their coverage. Planet Detroit will be targeting a dedicated reporting beat focusing on Southwest Detroit to bring persistent and consistent attention to the unique and pressing issues faced by the community—ranging from environmental injustice to public health crises, as well as social and economic issues specific to Latinx and immigrant populations. With sustained coverage, the reporting beat will seek to hold city government and corporations accountable, empower the community, and bring about change.

Now that Planet Detroit is a selected newsroom, Report for America is seeking talented, service-minded journalists and photographers to join its reporting corps—a two-year program (with an option for three years) that delivers a wide range of benefits to its corps members.

“We are thrilled to have been selected to host a Report for America reporter and are excited to increase our coverage of this community and the challenges and opportunities its members face,” said Nina Ignaczak, founder and editor of Planet Detroit.

Funds from the Kresge Foundation will also support the Fellow.

The deadline to apply is Jan. 31, 2024. Report for America is hosting several information sessions between now and then. To learn more, visit reportforamerica.org/apply or contact a recruitment team member at recruitment@reportforamerica.org.

About Planet Detroit

Planet Detroit is an award-winning environmental and public health news outlet covering Detroit communities. It was founded in 2019. We publish original reporting in a free weekly email newsletter. Our mission is to produce quality climate, equity, health, and environment journalism in the public interest that centers grassroots voices, holds power accountable, spotlights solutions + serves the community. We aim to ensure that Detroiters — primarily Black, Latinx, immigrant, minority, and low-income residents — have the information about climate and environment to make decisions for their families and communities and participate in democracy.

About Report for America

Report for America is a national service program that places talented emerging journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered topics and communities across the United States and its territories. By creating a new, sustainable model for journalism, Report for America provides people with the information they need to improve their communities, hold powerful institutions accountable, and restore trust in the media. Report for America is an initiative of The GroundTruth Project, an award-winning nonprofit journalism organization dedicated to rebuilding journalism from the ground up.

Nina Misuraca Ignaczak is an award-winning Metro Detroit-based editor, journalist, and documentary filmmaker. She is the founder, publisher, and editor of Planet Detroit, a digital media startup focused on producing quality climate, equity, health, and environment journalism that centers grassroots voices, holds power accountable, and spotlights solutions. Planet Detroit has received awards and recognition from the Society for Professional Journalists Detroit, the Institute for Nonprofit News, and LION Publishers since its establishment in 2019. Prior to her journalism career, Nina worked in urban planning in local government and nonprofit sectors, holding a Master of Science in Natural Resource Ecology and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.