The Record Searchlight is a leading source for news and information north of Sacramento, California. We are part of the USA Today Network and have an ambitious newsroom. The Record Searchlight is tightly woven into its community and traces its modern history to the first edition of the Redding Record in 1938, when work began on the construction of Shasta Dam. For eight decades it has been the leading news source in Shasta County and neighboring rural counties in California's vast but sparsely populated North State.
Location: Redding, California
Beat: Education, childhood trauma and the achievement gap
The RFA corps member works out of our main Redding office and is responsible for covering education, childhood trauma and the achievement gap — particularly focused on the points where those topics intersect. Stories are driven by data and old-fashioned beat reporting in schools and in the community. For example, how has the trauma of evacuating wildfires and losing homes impacted kids who are already challenged? Several initiatives have been funded in recent years to address the achievement gap, but are any of them working? We love the powerful human stories that bring readers a broader understanding and arm them with information to build a better community.
Reporter: Nada Atieh