Journalists who have either decided to leave their papers because they don't want to work for corporate owners who don't take care of their newspaper or those who have been let go in a series of massive job cuts, have found themselves in a predicament they might have never seen coming: working in freelance.
Even some reporters such as Jason Blevins, who voluntarily left The Denver Post, find freelance to be a risky job that doesn't come with a guaranteed paycheck.
This is where the Economic Hardship Reporting Project comes in. It is an initiative that seeks to help reporters that have been laid off by providing funding and the means to continue to work in journalism. Specifically, the project is giving $10,000 to Denver Post journalists who recently lost their jobs. The founder created the organization especially for journalists who have been subjected to an ever-changing, unpredictable media industry. With the funds from the nonprofit, journalists are able to continue publishing in various newspapers and magazines.
The Economic Hardship Reporting Project will aid eight reporters from The Denver Post, where journalists will be paid by the nonprofit as well as the papers that place their stories. The organization will place the eight reporters at newspapers that they find as the best fit for the reporter, and each reporter will also be able to suggest papers they want to write for. Reporters will write feature stories about economic hardship, income inequality and communities that have been overlooked in media coverage.