More details, and friction, around Washington news fellowship

Organizers of Washington's reworked news fellowship faced some tough questions from newsroom leaders on Tuesday.

The fellowship is expanding to place temporary reporters in all 39 of Washington's counties starting in January. Washington State University is operating the program with Boston-based nonprofit Report for America.

I'm glad the fellowship will increase civic-news coverage statewide. That's especially needed in some rural areas.

But I'm concerned about some details of how it will work and attitudes that WSU and Report for America are bundling into the program.

Their rigid views on how participating newsrooms should operate are causing friction. But outlets are so desperate for support they may still apply for fellows.

During a question-and-answer session Tuesday, several raised concerns about the program imposing mandatory salary levels far above what they pay reporters and editors.

I know for a fact that my other employee is going to say, 'well, that's not fair,'" Lynnwood Times owner Mario Lotmore said after the Zoom call.

Lotmore said the program would force him to pay a fellow $62,000 if one is placed at his biweekly newspaper in Snohomish County. He said that's much more than journalists are generally paid in the area.

Lotmore would like to pay more but the business can only afford so much. The fellowship "artificially inflates" the market, he said.

If his paper gets a fellow, Lotmore will have to give his other employee a raise, he said. That plus benefits negate much of the grant's value, but he applied anyway.

Salary costs are split with WSU and Report for America. Newsrooms pay half the first year, 66% the second and 80% if they opt for a third. Organizers will cover full salaries in some situations but the criteria isn't clear.

Kim Kleman, executive director of Report for America, said the program will also help outlets raise funds to help cover costs. She told the group that the funding formula is "geared to wean you off our support" as the reporting gains traction in the community.

"Because our hope upon hope with this whole thing is you will permanently increase newsroom capacity and you can support this position or another beat in your newsroom," she said.

Two-thirds of Washington's newsroom jobs vanished over the last two decades, leaving much of the state with minimal local reporting. The fellowship begins to restore some of that capacity.

WSU began operating the fellowship in 2024, placing 16 journalists around the state.

After legislators halved the funding, WSU partnered with Report for America to expand the program and seek donations to cover half the cost. They expect it to cost $10 million over five years. So far the largest donation is $500,000 from Microsoft.

WSU initially employed the fellows. Now WSU and Report for America will select candidates and newsrooms will choose which one to hire. Thirteen are expected to start in January and July of 2027.

WSU and Report for America won't influence news coverage decisions. But they are asserting their views on how news organizations should operate.

One way is by requiring higher salaries, using a "living wage" calculator rather than market rates.

I'm all for paying journalists more. Some are criminally underpaid, weakening the profession and exploiting people who love the work.

But the reality is that most news organizations can't afford to pay very much, especially rural ones. Salary requirements may prevent them from applying or cause morale problems if a fellow arrives.

That could skew participation toward large outlets in metro areas. They could assign fellows to cover distant counties for a few years through the program. That might produce some great journalism, but if most of their audience and operations are in big cities, I'm not sure that replenishes news deserts.

WSU and Report for America are also forcing outlets that participate to give fellows' work away for free, even if their survival depends on selling subscriptions. This ideological decision undermines the business model of most local news organizations.

Imagine if taxpayers funded aerospace job training, and the school running the program insisted on setting salaries and prices at participating airplane companies. Pay more and charge nothing or you're excluded from this public program.

Perhaps legislators should add language to the state's contribution, to ensure the operational autonomy of participating news organizations.

I'm also concerned that the fellowship will drift from its promise of providing core, civic news coverage.

Organizers are using language giving them leeway to fund coverage of practically anything. Their documentation says the "initiative prioritizes coverage of civic affairs and underserved areas, including rural communities and undercovered beats."

Virtually all of Washington is underserved and every beat is undercovered. Especially civic news like county government.

Via email, Ben Shors, journalism chair at WSU's Murrow College, said "the program's core priority is to ensure baseline coverage of county government and civic affairs."

"While we're open to creative approaches, applications must clearly articulate how the newsroom will address those fundamental civic reporting gaps, he wrote.

Washington's fellowship has the attention of the nation's largest philanthropies supporting local news. They hope it becomes a model for growing coverage in news deserts around the country.

That's an exciting prospect and all the reason for WSU and Report for America to listen and respond to concerns of news organizations trying to make it work well for everyone.

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This story was originally published June 18, 2026 at 9:32 AM.