Fresno Bee welcomes reporter to cover Latino issues as part of Report for America initiative

The Fresno Bee will add a reporter this June to focus on Latino issues in the central San Joaquin Valley as part of an effort to improve coverage of this important and growing demographic.

Nadia Lopez, who is the city hall reporter for San Jose Spotlight, will join The Bee as part of the national Report for America program that today announced the placement of 225 journalists in 167 newsrooms across the U.S.

Lopez joins Manuela Tobias as the second RFA reporter at The Bee. Tobias covers poverty and related issues as part of The California Divide, a statewide media collaboration led by CalMatters.

Lopez is a graduate of San Francisco State University and is a native of Chula Vista. She recently won two California Journalism Awards for writing and land use.

“I’m very excited to be selected as a Report For America corps member and to join the Fresno Bee team covering Latino Issues in the San Joaquin Valley,” Lopez said. “There’s no shortage of work to be done in this vital part of California’s agricultural heartland as the region rapidly grows and changes. I’m eager to work directly with the Latino community using my language skills in English and Spanish to explore how inequality and inequity play a role in determining the outcomes for one of the region’s most underserved populations.”

Bee Editor Joe Kieta said Lopez’s work would appear online and in the print edition of The Bee as well as in its bilingual product, Vida en el Valle.

“The central San Joaquin Valley is home to a large Latino population that faces unique challenges and issues. It can and must be better served by The Bee’s journalism. Nadia’s addition will help us change that,” Kieta said.

Coverage of the coronavirus pandemic has dominated headlines, and Lopez undoubtedly will report about its impact on the Valley’s Latino population.

RFA uses a funding model that pays for half of the reporter’s salary, with the news organization fundraising for the rest. The Bee is fundraising for the other half and also is looking at strategic partnerships that could help fund it for two years. If you’d like to contribute to this RFA position, please go to bitly.com/FresnoBeeRFA.

What is Report for America?

Report for America selected 225 journalists for the 2020-21 reporter corps. They were chosen from among more than 1,800 applicants.

It’s a big expansion for the initiative, currently at 59 members, of whom about 90% will be returning this summer.

The near-quadrupling of the corps comes amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has created an economic crisis while also representing one of the most sweeping and significant news events in modern history.

“These reporting positions come at a time when local journalism is already reeling from years of newsroom cuts and unforeseen challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Thursday’s announcement by RFA read.

The announcement also says RFA is developing guidelines “for journalists to work safely in the field at this time of required isolation and social distancing.” The entire Bee newsroom has been working remotely since mid March.

“It’s now crystal clear that the need for trustworthy, accurate, and local information can be a matter of life and death,” said Steven Waldman, co-founder and president of Report for America, said in a statement. “This surge of reporters should help meet this moment.”

Report for America also on Thursday announced a new round of financial support from the Facebook Journalism Project, which recently contributed $2.5 million to the local news campaign.

Report for America has a goal of expanding to 1,000 total reporters by 2024.

This story was originally published April 23, 2020 at 6:00 AM.