The Johnson County Post is among the select group of news organizations chosen as a 2026 host newsroom by Report for America.
Founded in 2017 in response to the declining number of local journalists at work in the U.S., RFA places early-to-mid-career reporters in newsrooms across the country and helps cover part of their salaries. The Post was one of just 70 newsrooms selected to receive a 2026 corps member from among the hundreds of applications.
“We’re honored and so incredibly excited to have been chosen,” said Post Publisher Jay Senter. “The most important thing for the viability of local news is getting more reporters out in the field covering the community, providing consistent, reliable information readers can trust. RFA’s program will help us continue to expand our newsroom in a way that is financially sustainable.”
The RFA corps member placed with the Post will cover public schools in Johnson County, keeping tabs on everything from changing student demographics and funding issues to curricula debates and the integration of technology in the classroom.
“It’s no overstatement to say that Johnson County was built on the strength of its public school system,” said Post Editor Kyle Palmer. “We’ve consistently heard from our readers that they’re interested in more robust coverage of K-12 education. With the addition of a full-time reporter dedicated to reporting on schools, we’ll be able to deliver on that need.”
How the Report for America program works
With its host newsrooms chosen, RFA has now opened the application window for reporters who would like to be considered for placement as a corps member. Reporters have until Feb. 16 to submit their application and until Feb. 23 to submit their references.
Once it has selected this year’s corps members, RFA will work with its host newsrooms to match corps members with the openings at its host newsrooms. You can find a list of those openings here.
Corps members will be placed and ready to start reporting in their communities by July.
As part of the program, RFA will cover 50% of the reporter’s salary during their first year, 33% their second year, and 20% their third year. Additionally, RFA requires host newsrooms to seek local donations to cover 25% of the reporter’s salary.
Philanthropic support helps push Post to sustainability
Report for America is the second organization to award the Post significant philanthropic support in recent months.
In July, the Google News Initiative selected the Post as one of just 14 organizations to receive a grant to expand their coverage. With the $300,000 boost from GNI, the Post has been able to begin providing consistent coverage of the entirety of Johnson County, including Olathe and the Gardner, Edgerton, De Soto and Spring Hill areas.
This kind of philanthropic support has allowed the Post to reach more people with expanded and deeper coverage, in turn bringing on more subscribers and helping drive the revenue the organization needs for long-term sustainability.
“The business model that allowed community newspapers to thrive for decades has been decimated over the past 20 years, so you’ve got to find a new way to generate the finances needed to support a robust local newsgathering operation,” Senter said. “Our mission is to build an organization that Johnson County residents can turn to for trustworthy coverage for literally decades to come. The support of groups like Report for America and the Google News Initiative go a long way toward helping us realize that goal.”
Since 2020, the Post’s staff has grown from four to 10 staff members, making it the largest newsgathering operation dedicated to Johnson County in nearly two decades.
“We’re grateful for and proud of the support we’ve gotten from our more than 8,000 subscribers, which is what’s allowed us to keep adding staff even as other news organizations are laying reporters off,” Senter said. “But the fact is, we need even more reporters out in the field if we’re going to be able to give a vibrant, growing community of more than 600,000 people like Johnson County the kind of coverage it deserves. We’re thrilled to welcome our new education reporter later this year.”
