The Allegheny Front joins WITF (Harrisburg), WESA (Pittsburgh), and WHYY (Philadelphia) to form a regional news collaboration funded with a $652,902 grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). The collaboration, led by WITF, expands the StateImpact Pennsylvania reporting project to produce multimedia reports on the energy industry, the economic and environmental impacts of energy choices and the effects of energy production on the health of communities. The CPB grant will support journalists at the partner media outlets for two years, with station support continuing in outlying years.
“Collaboration is a force multiplier; together stations can do more and innovate faster to provide the local journalism that is part of the bedrock of public media’s valued service to our country,” said Kathy Merritt, CPB senior vice president, journalism and radio. “We’ve seen the importance of our investments in collaboration when, for example, stations in the Texas Station Collaborative were better prepared to serve their communities throughout the devastation of Hurricane Harvey.”
The Allegheny Front’s Reid Frazier will contribute his award-winning reporting on the energy economy in western Pennsylvania to the collaboration. His contributions will help StateImpact expand its scope by focusing on the entire energy economy throughout the Pennsylvania from coal to nuclear to alternative energy sources. The goal is to help Pennsylvanians have a better understanding of the environmental, financial and health impacts the energy industry has on communities across the state.
StateImpact Pennsylvania will report for partner stations and contribute to national programs, including PBS NewsHour, Marketplace, Morning Edition, and All Things Considered, and other public media programs. The collaboration will provide audio, video, and web reporting.
