News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 12, 2023
Media Contact
Shannon GaNun, Director of Development
912-547-1617 or Shannon.TheCurrent@gmail.com
SAVANNAH, Ga.— The Current, Georgia’s only nonprofit investigative news organization, will expand in 2024 to include a full-time accountability reporter in Glynn County. The new hire will be funded through the generosity of more than four dozen local donors and the support of Report for America.
The Current launched in the fall of 2020 to fill the vacuum of local watchdog journalism in Coastal Georgia exposed by the murder of Ahmaud Arbery.
The new reporter will revive the culture of watchdog journalism pioneered a century ago by another Glynn County native son — Robert S. Abbott, the publisher of The Chicago Defender — and build on The Current’s own record of shining a light on wrongdoing and empowering civically engaged Georgians with facts needed to improve their qualities of life.
The Current’s Glynn County reporter will be the second Report for America position, joining Public Safety Reporter Jake Shore, and will join a staff that includes full-time environment, data, accountability and political journalists. You can see more about the staff here: https://thecurrentga.org/who-we-are/our-staff/.
Previous reporting by The Current in Glynn County includes the following stories:
- ‘It seemed like our lives didn’t matter.’— Glynn County’s Black citizens were tired of inequality. After Ahmaud Arbery’s killing, they decided to make life better.
- Disagreements over care for homeless population in Brunswick leaves dozens with nowhere to go—Clash brings hostility to surface as providers work to find alternative shelters.
- As trial approaches, indicted former Glynn County police chief’s history shows controversies—Ex-chief John Powell had legal disputes, issues in past jobs from Alabama to Florida.
The Current has become an essential news source for more than 49,000 readers. The newsroom publishes its stories online for free to all readers at www.thecurrentga.org. The Current also uses an innovative text-based platform to reach 30,000 other Coastal Georgia residents to ensure all of our communities have access to trustworthy, independent local news.
For additional information about The Current, our staff, and our job opportunities, please contact Margaret Coker, editor in chief, at margaret.coker@thecurrentga.org.
For additional information about how you can donate or support nonprofit watchdog journalism in Georgia, please contact Shannon GaNun, director of development, at shannon.ganun@thecurrentga.org.
ABOUT THE CURRENT: The Current is a nonprofit news organization that provides original, data-driven watchdog journalism affecting Savannah and Coastal Georgia. It is an independent organization whose professional journalists work to increase awareness and accountability through data-based and solutions-oriented reporting that affects all our diverse communities. It is funded solely by donations from its supporters and readers.
ABOUT REPORT FOR AMERICA: Report for America is a national service program that places talented emerging journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. It is an initiative of The GroundTruth Project, an award-winning nonprofit journalism organization dedicated to rebuilding journalism from the ground up.
