Even more reporters to cover your community

SOCIAL MEDIA GIANT’S JOURNALIST SCHEME HANDED £5.9M TO EXTEND

A PROJECT that brings new journalists into newsrooms to cover under-represented communities is to expand to 100 reporters.

The Community Reporter Project (CNP) funded by Facebook and run by the NCTJ has been given another £5.9m and has been extended for another two years from 2022.

The project which began in 2018 has seen 139 reporters recruited so far, creating a pipeline of talent across the country and developing the skills and knowledge needed by the journalists of the future, with many CNP graduates stepping into permanent roles.

Reporters Adam Maidment and Ramazani Mwamba were the first community reporters for the Manchester Evening News during the scheme’s formative years. The pair have gone on to successfully transition as reporters for the newspaper.

The current community reporters at the M.E.N. are Hana Kelly, who covers inner South Manchester, and Saima Akhtar, who covers North Manchester.

Since the initiative began, CNP journalists have collectively produced hundreds of front pages, with 80 per cent of reporters achieving print front-page bylines or homepage leads within three months of starting in their post.

They have generated thousands of stories and consistently focused on diverse communities and voices that are traditionally underrepresented in the media. Helen Dalby, Reach’s audience and content director in the North East and Yorkshire, said: “At a time when trusted journalism that gets right to the heart of our local communities has never mattered more to our readers, we’re proud to be part of a scheme that ensures as many communities as possible are represented in our publications at the same time as training the journalists of the future.

“Ever since it launched three years ago, the Community News Project has enabled publishers to expand, improve and add depth to our coverage of communities which were previously underserved.

“During that time, our community reporters have published some exceptional journalism, most recently shining an important light on the many ways local groups have come together by geography, faith and in all sorts of other ways to survive and thrive during the coronavirus pandemic.”

Reach’s deputy group editor-inchief David Higgerson added: “Local community journalism representing every corner of society matters more than ever, and we’re excited to be part of the next phase of this superb initiative.”