Support The Olympian’s new Report for America reporter covering housing, homelessness

I’m happy to announce that The Olympian has hired Brandon Block to begin work in June as a full-time reporter covering issues related to housing and homelessness.

You may recall from one of my earlier columns that this position is the result of a partnership between The Olympian and Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. RFA is an initiative of the nonprofit news organization The GroundTruth Project.

Block’s position is one of 225 announced Thursday by RFA. He is part of the organization’s 2020 reporting corps that will serve in 162 news organizations across 45 states and Puerto Rico.

Block has a varied background for a young reporter, working as a reporter, video storyteller and researcher. He spent two years covering criminal justice, immigration and the environment in Baltimore. His writing has appeared at WYPR 88.1, the DCist, and the Baltimore Beat, and he fact-checked the book “I Got a Monster: The Rise and Fall of America’s Most Corrupt Police Squad.”

He spent the last year in Bangkok, Thailand, where he worked for an education nonprofit on a Princeton in Asia fellowship. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and film and media studies from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Block got his start in journalism by writing film and theater criticism for Baltimore City Paper.

Anyone reading this likely knows why we applied for an RFA reporter to covering housing and homelessness. The Olympian has been covering this heart-breaking problem in our community for decades. But as advertising revenues have dropped and our staff has shrunk, it has been impossible to dedicate a staff member to this complex, difficult and growing issue.

Nothing has caused as much community outcry over the last couple of years as the increasingly visible homeless population, and nothing has divided this community as much. As the community looks for solutions, it becomes more obvious that homelessness isn’t just a problem, but a symptom of many other problems.

Block will be tasked with looking at homelessness through a solutions lens, examining how mental illness, addiction, rising cost of living, and other trends are contributing to the rise in homelessness, and what is being tried to address those issues. The assignment also will include coverage of bills addressing housing or homelessness during the 2021 Legislative session.

“Homelessness is an issue that forces us to ask important questions about our government and society, and the current pandemic only amplifies the already-urgent housing crisis many Americans face,” Block told me in an email. “I’m excited to join The Olympian team and address this important topic with the attention it deserves.”

The Olympian is owned by McClatchy, and Block’s reporting will be shared with McClatchy’s other Washington publications: The News Tribune, Bellingham Herald and Tri-City Herald.

In Report for America’s announcement of this year’s reporting cohort, it points out that these reporting positions come at a time when local journalism — already reeling from years of dropping revenues and newsroom cuts — is now facing unforeseen challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The positions are funded by a combination of grant funds from RFA, local newsrooms and community support.

Locally, we are still trying to secure the $20,000 needed from our community to match the grant funds. So far, WSECU has made a generous donation to serve as seed money. I cannot thank the Washington State Employee Credit Union enough for being willing to reach beyond its usual community giving — which is substantial — to help The Olympian do this important work to support our community.

But The Olympian needs you to contribute too. I know many of you are subscribers because you believe in the importance of daily news coverage in the state capital and county we all call home. Thank you for that.

It’s not enough. We need you to donate to support the kind of work Block will do.

This is an unusual and uncomfortable position for me. Asking for a donation to the business of journalism would have been unheard of a decade ago. But times change, and our business model is no longer adequate to support what our communities need us to do.

Because Report for America is a nonprofit organization, your donation will be tax deductible. And RFA’s partnership with us provides a guarantee that the money will go directly to fund this position, and not to the bottom line.

Think about the value of the high-utility coronavirus coverage our small news team has provided during this pandemic. We are the only news organization that views all things through a Thurston County lens. And we have continued to keep the information free on theolympian.com in an attempt to provide vital information to our entire community.

But like you, we are stressed. The pandemic has brought layoffs, furloughs and salary reductions to other regional newsrooms large and small. We’re fighting to hold the line, like many local businesses. Adding a Report for America reporter to our team is a truly efficient way to add more essential coverage.

So, give. If you worry about housing costs or homeless camps, give. If you see value in our work, and the work to come from Brandon Block, give.

You can find the link to our donation page at Report for America here. The donation is made to RFA, but it is designated for our reporter.

You can learn more about Report for America and its efforts to strengthen communities through public service journalism at www.reportforamerica.org.

If you have questions for me, email me at ddemarest@theolympian.com.

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