AP adding 14 statehouse reporters in new partnership

The Associated Press is adding 14 statehouse reporters through a collaboration with Report for America, a group dedicated to local reporting.

Report for America, launched in 2017, is part of a growing effort to support local media. In rural areas and even many cities, newspapers are shrinking and shutting down while coverage peters out.

Report for America recruits reporters and pays part of their salaries, putting them to work at existing news organizations. It has funded reporters at newspapers, online publications, radio and TV outlets, and other news organizations such as the AP.

The new reporters will be in Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina and Utah. They will be joined by a data journalist covering all 50 states.