RJI Partnerships
Coming 2017: the Trump-O-Meter
Editor’s note: PolitiFact has a 2016-2017 RJI Fellowship at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. Executive Director Aaron Sharockman is the project leader for the fellowship. This blog is reposted from politifact.com.
In natural disasters, less resilient poor most at risk
In the news Poverty is a major factor in the death of victims of natural disasters, including those that are climate related, according to a United Nations report released on Oct. 13 in connection with the International Day for Disaster Reduction. The U.N. Office for Disaster Risk Reduction found that of the 1.35 million people … Continued
Road from Paris: Global climate deal expected to take effect soon
In the news The historic Paris Agreement is poised for enactment now that key milestones are nearly met for the number of countries taking part — including newly joined India — and for the amount of carbon emissions those countries represent. Back story When the United Nations agreed to the new climate change treaty in … Continued
Hurricane watch: Could coastal storms cost your community?
In the news Hurricane Hermine lingers in the Northeast this week after making landfall last Friday and causing damaging storm surge, strong winds and heavy rain from Florida to the coastal southeast states. As of Tuesday, the storm had taken three lives, damaged property and knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of residents. Meanwhile, … Continued
Deep South, deep risk: Region faces climate adaptation challenges
In the news President Barack Obama is to visit flood-ravaged Louisiana today in the wake of inundating high water that killed 13 people and left more than 100,000 seeking federal assistance. The Great Flood of 2016 is being called the worst U.S. natural disaster since Hurricane Sandy in 2012, with 4,000 people in shelters days … Continued
Dry spell: Covering worsening droughts
In the news A months-long drought has hit the northeastern United States, and while it’s not as dire as the West Coast’s five-year dry spell, it has stressed farms, prompted water restrictions and threatened more wildfires. It stretches from Maine to Pennsylvania and has hit Massachusetts particularly hard, as well as New Hampshire, Maine and … Continued
Small paper, small city undergoing big changes in Virginia
For a century, the Culpeper Star-Exponent — whose predecessors date to 1881 — served a small community that changed relatively little. Today, the newspaper is dealing with rapid change in its central Virginia market. Since 1980, Culpeper County has more than doubled its population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, mostly with commuters to the … Continued
Serving Hispanic readers is a matter of trust
A recent issue of Nuevas Raices, the Harrisonburg, Virginia, weekly newspaper that serves Hispanic readers in the Old Dominion, had just one small coupon ad. “We don’t trust them,” explains owner Fernando Gamboa, who says his 14,000 readers worry the coupons, standard in U.S. papers, won’t be redeemed. His readers have grown up in countries … Continued
Potter resumes newspaper listening tour this month in Virginia
Walter B. “Walt” Potter Jr., a retired newspaper publisher who works with the University of Missouri School of Journalism’s Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute, will tour community newspapers again this spring. A year ago, Potter visited Missouri weeklies and small dailies during what became known as the Potter Listening Tour. He wrote a series of … Continued
Talk Story, Write Story helps financially disadvantaged children write their way into college
RJI Fellow to pilot a version that newspapers can introduce to local communities