The Local Reporting Network aims to be responsive to the needs of local journalists. Although the majority of our partnerships are yearlong projects, there are multiple ways of working with us.
- Through our 50 State Initiative, ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network is working to support accountability reporting projects in every state by the end of 2029. We will be selecting 10 projects a year, for five years, to participate. We will reimburse the news organization for the salary of the selected reporter (up to $75,000 plus a benefits stipend) so they can spend a year working full time on an accountability journalism project of importance to their communities.
- Our Sustainability Desk launched in January 2025 to allow us to work with former Local Reporting Network partners on new ideas or on continuations of earlier projects. This is a flexible partnership — reporters work at their own pace, and ProPublica contributes to the news organization for expenses (but not a salary reimbursement) and continues to provide an editor plus a range of support including data, research, engagement and visuals help.
- If you are an editor, reporter or newsroom who has worked with us before and you have an idea for a story that might be right for partnership, please email a couple paragraphs about your idea to [email protected].
- There are frequently new opportunities for partnerships. To hear about those as soon as we publicize them, please sign up for our Local Reporting Network newsletter or follow ProPublica on social media.
- Are you a reporter with an idea that might not be right for a local partnership? Through our freelance application, ProPublica’s editors want to hear from you.
Applying to the 50 State Initiative
The 50 State Initiative is our commitment to working with all 50 states over five years. Twice a year, we select five newsrooms to join this initiative — each from a different state. Here’s a map of where we’ve been so far and where we are still accepting applications:
- We are accepting applications for five spots in the Local Reporting Network to begin work on July 1. The deadline is April 14, 2025. Please click here to apply.
- We will have a second call for applications in the spring.
- Please sign up to join us for a webinar on March 5 at 1 p.m. Eastern time to learn more about applying.
- No matter the season, we are eager to talk with you about your ideas! To discuss potential proposals with an editor, please email us at [email protected].
- To ask a question or receive a link to a recent webinar on the program, please email us at [email protected].
- To hear more about future application rounds, please sign up for our newsletter or follow ProPublica on social media.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Local Reporting Network
FAQs about the proposals
What are you looking for in a project?
When we evaluate proposals for the Local Reporting Network, we’re looking for accountability stories that need to be told in particular regions, that would benefit from our support and that have a clear plan to achieve success. Here are questions that we ask of each project:
Is this an accountability project?
We’re looking for projects that dovetail with our mission: to expose abuses of power and betrayals of the public trust by government, business and other institutions, using the moral force of investigative journalism to spur reform through the sustained spotlighting of wrongdoing.
Is this project investigative, and does it have a hypothesis of what’s going wrong?
You should be able to answer these questions: What’s wrong? Who is harmed? Who or what is responsible? What needs to be changed? Please try to be specific: While there are always bigger issues at play in every investigation, we’re more likely to take on a project that looks at a specific policy, law or regulation. We’re not asking you to be an editorial writer. Rather, we want you to talk to experts and others to identify possible solutions or find regions/companies/agencies that have confronted similar problems and solved them. Spend some time on our website reading our recent work to understand how our investigations can lead to specific impact.
Keep asking yourself this central question and refining your pitch: Does the proposal have a clear hypothesis of wrongdoing? We’re disinclined to pursue exploratory or explanatory projects. If you’re at the stage where you’re asking “whether” something is happening, it probably means you’ll need to do more reporting before your project is ready for a ProPublica collaboration. And if your theory of what’s going wrong is a broad system — be it persistent poverty or underregulation — you might want to dig a little deeper to find more specific issues your reporting can address.
Why here? And why now?
We’re not looking for national problems that a news organization can localize. Instead, we’re interested in proposals with a unique or unusual connection to the community in which your news organization is located. Over the course of our program, we have received dozens of pitches related to general topics: drug overdoses, homelessness, mental health and in-custody deaths. While all these topics are crucially important in many communities, none stood out from the pack because they all were related to a national problem.
We recommend you avoid trying to re-create a project that has already been done well elsewhere. Instead, think about what is unusual or distinctive about your local area and its issues. Another way of thinking about this: Think about a nut graph that would tell a reader who isn’t in your state why this might matter to them. Unusually bad water quality? An especially cozy state legislature? The corporate headquarters of a particularly interesting company? A place distinctive in its racial or ethnic makeup?
How would you approach this project?
Pre-reporting is critical. Offer a reporting plan with specific story ideas. Find out what experts have had to say about your subject. Include summaries of travel that will be required, agencies that have relevant documents and any projected costs. Get going on public records requests. Find out what data is available. The more you know, the more convincing your pitch will be.
We know you’re seeking the time to report out the project, and we don’t expect to see 12 months of work in a project proposal, but we are looking for evidence that your idea is feasible and deserves a spot over other worthy proposals. Anecdotes, preliminary data, documents and whistleblowers can all help.
Why are you and your news organization best positioned to tell this story?
Is it personal experiences, years living in one location, time devoted to a specific beat or unusual access to data or documents? Convince us that you have something special to say about a local issue. And if you are proposing to cover an issue that affects a particular community, tell us what that community’s current relationship is like with your publication and what your experience is covering that community.
Would this project be done without us?
The answer to this question doesn’t have to be an absolute no, but we have to see the value we can bring to the project. In some proposals, we have a clear sense that a news organization is going to pursue the topic with or without us. That’s great, but it makes a less compelling case about why our support is vital. Our Local Reporting Network has a dedicated staff with expertise in research, data analysis, community engagement, audience development, production and design that can help elevate a project.
How much reporting do we need to do before we apply?
This is a question we hear a lot, and it’s a hard one. The truth is, it is going to take some reporting to develop a proposal for a yearlong project. But developing a proposal doesn’t mean doing all that reporting in advance. You’re going to want to take time to talk to some sources about your hypothesis, to make sure that the wrongdoing you are seeing is what it appears to be. And once you’ve identified a problem, we want to know that there is a pathway for pursuing it with a reasonable likelihood of success. If you’re writing about requesting records, we’re going to want to know that those records exist and that they are accessible; if you’re eager to tell one family’s story, we want to know that they’re willing to talk with you.
Can we run our idea by you before applying?
Yes. Operators are standing by. In all seriousness, we want to help you make your proposal the best it can be. A team of ProPublica reporters and editors are willing to read a draft of your proposal and give you our thoughts. You can email us your draft or any other questions you have to [email protected].
Can you share examples of successful proposals?
We’ve adapted four proposals for you to look at. All of these were accepted in the Local Reporting Network and produced excellent work during our year together. Remember, these are just examples! We know each proposal, like each project, is different.
- The Sacramento Bee investigated conditions in California’s county jails.
- The Public’s Radio looked at problems with Rhode Island’s 911 system.
- Mississippi Today documented how the state treats people in mental health crises.
- Source New Mexico looked at recovery assistance for victims of the largest wildfire in the state’s history.
- To read more about the application process and the work we produce, please see these interviews with Neiman Labs and from the Investigative Reporters & Editors Journal.
FAQs About How the Program Works
Who can apply?
- Local and regional newsrooms are eligible to apply with a proposal.
- Reporters can be on staff at those publications or freelancers with whom the newsrooms agree to work for the duration of the program.
- For the 50 State Initiative, they must be in states from which we have not previously taken a project.
How do these collaborations work?
Your reporter will continue to be based in your newsroom, and your organization will designate an editor to collaborate with us. They will work hand in hand with a ProPublica senior editor, who will offer guidance on making the stories as powerful and well-executed as they can be. That ProPublica editor will also help assess whether there are ways that our expertise with data, research, engagement, audience or production teams could be of use.
When we take on a collaboration, we consider it a partnership in every sense of the word. The key decisions about how the story will be reported and written will be made in collaboration between us and your newsroom. Since we plan to jointly publish stories that result from this collaboration, that will mean, as in all of our partnerships, producing work that meets the standards of both your organization and ProPublica.
This sounds tricky, and it can sometimes get complicated. But through literally hundreds of partnerships, we’ve found that when people are committed to collaborating, there’s always a way to make it work.
Does my editor have to endorse my project?
Projects can only work with the support of a newsroom’s leaders. That said, if your editor is up for it, we’re happy to talk to him or her about the benefits of collaboration, how co-publishing works and whether your project might be a good fit.
We are based outside the United States. Can we apply?
At this time, the Local Reporting Network is only open to news organizations in the 50 U.S. states. Partner publications must publish primarily in English.
Can reporters in the network work on other stories while they’re doing their investigative projects?
The goal of this initiative is to give your newsroom the resources and help to execute accountability stories that would not otherwise have been possible. For partnerships where we are reimbursing a reporter’s salary, we expect them to be working on our shared project full time. The Sustainability Desk is different: We will work together to establish shared goals that fit in with your newsroom needs. In all cases, we do understand that other, crucial stories may come up. If that happens, we are confident we can all settle on a plan that works for everyone.
What happens if our news organization experiences furloughs and pay cuts?
ProPublica can only reimburse a news organization for the salary it pays to its reporter. If an organization cuts a reporter’s pay, we would likewise reduce our reimbursement. In some cases, ProPublica may be willing to extend the length of the partnership to accommodate time lost to furloughs.
If I’m a reporter, what happens if another job opportunity comes up?
If you are applying for a one-year partnership, it is a 12-month commitment, and by accepting this position, you are agreeing in good faith to stay for the duration. Obviously we know family emergencies and other situations may come up, but you should expect to commit to working on this project for the entire year. If you have doubts, you may want to think about other ways to collaborate with us.
How many stories are we expected to produce?
We’ve never found quotas particularly useful. Our reporters aim to produce a body of work each year that offers the possibility of prompting change. That said, our Local Reporting Network partners have, on average, produced four to eight major stories over the course of the year, as well as several more minor stories. Sometimes, the stories are part of a traditional multipart series or a single story, with appropriate follow-ups. But more often, the stories are rolled out individually as they are completed. The goal is impact, and there are many routes to achieving it.
What if we drill a dry hole?
This is always possible in investigative reporting, but our experience has shown it is unlikely. Send motivated reporters after a promising subject about which they’ve done some due diligence and they almost inevitably find intriguing material, including things they were not looking for when they began their research. Our plan is for our senior editor in charge of this project to be in regular touch with the newsrooms receiving the grants. If a story idea doesn’t seem to be working out, we will encourage the newsroom involved to come up with something else.
What happens if we do so well, there’s more than a year’s work?
We should all be so lucky! Most of the time, our intention is to give one-year grants. If a newsroom taps into something that is among the most promising proposals in the next round of applications, it would get serious consideration.
What about costs, such as travel or public records requests?
ProPublica has set aside some funding to offset those expenses. You should consult with us in advance about splitting costs. We will not pay to set up a statehouse bureau, for equipment or for travel back and forth from your capital, for example. We recognize that newsrooms may also be receiving supplemental support for distinct purposes; we ask that you disclose and discuss such grants with us in advance.
Are there any co-publishing requirements my newsroom should know about?
We ask that all co-published stories credit the Local Reporting Network and promote our newsletter at the top. We also ask that partners embed our Pixel Ping code and share audience data on our co-published stories. We are happy to do the same.
As a general rule, ProPublica publishes its work under a Creative Commons license, meaning other organizations/sites can republish the work that appears on our site if they abide by certain criteria, including that they may not edit or alter the stories. Local Reporting Network partners agree that stories produced as part of the collaboration can be distributed under that license. You can find the terms of the license here. The license does not allow other organizations to republish photos and illustrations; they must get permission first.
