Hello, Milwaukee!  

I’m Meredith Melland, the newest reporter joining the team at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service to cover neighborhoods as a Report for America corps member.  

 As a journalist, I’m excited to serve a need in local news coverage, and as a new Milwaukee resident, I can’t wait to get to know the city’s communities and neighborhoods through your stories.  

 In the short time I’ve been in Milwaukee, seeds planted from dirt at my apartment have sprung up into grass. I hope I also can grow roots and absorb the city around me.  

 My background  

 I’m originally from Stoughton, Wisconsin, though I’ve always enjoyed visiting Milwaukee.  

 I joined my high school’s newspaper because I liked writing and learning about new things. I got hooked by the collaborative and passionate energy of the newsroom, and I loved feeling like I was contributing to the well-being of my school, town and society as a whole.  

I studied journalism at DePaul University in Chicago, a city (with a public transit system) that I love dearly.  

Through my classes and joining the staff at 14 East, DePaul’s online student magazine, I began to think beyond the boundaries of traditional media and developed an interest in reporting stories that directly serve community needs.  

What do people need to know to be successful in their daily lives and communities?  

My last two and half years were spent working for the Daily Journal in Kankakee, Illinois, as the newspaper’s digital content editor, where I managed the website and social media, edited stories and pages and reported on COVID-19 and other topics.  

 What is Report for America?  

 Report for America is a service program that places early to mid-career journalists into newsrooms across the U.S. to report on undercovered communities or beats.  

Becoming a Report for America corps member particularly appealed to me because the program requires volunteering through a service project in youth media outside of the reporting job. Having been a tutor in the past, I love working with kids and learning how their bright, creative minds see the world.  

I applied to Report for America and interviewed for the community engagement and neighborhood reporting position at NNS, where I will now be covering neighborhoods and their associations, local nonprofits and people in those communities. 

I will also be working with News414, a project of Wisconsin Watch and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service that uses text messaging and social media to communicate with residents to help determine their coverage needs. 

 What’s going on in your neighborhood? 

 The main focus of my job is to report on what matters to you; answer questions about the community that might not be easily available; spotlight residents doing good things; explain issues; and share resources.  

So, I want to hear about your community. Who are the people and organizations in your neighborhood that are making a positive change? What’s happening on your block that you have questions about? What’s missing from news coverage of your neighborhood?  

Since my Report for America training a few weeks ago, I’ve been thinking about the concept that journalists should earn the trust of those they serve instead of expecting it — an idea from Joy Mayer of Trusting News. 

I’m honored to have the chance to build that trust. Reporting on Milwaukee’s communities, especially neighborhoods predominantly lived in by people of color on the city’s North and South sides, is a responsibility that I aim to do with respect and sincerity.  

To get to know neighborhoods and meet people, I will be out at meetings and community events. I hope to also eat at a lot of local spots, check out thrift shops and libraries, explore parks and fly my kite by the lake.  

I value transparency and accuracy, so I’m always happy to explain anything about the reporting process, get feedback and listen to new ideas. My hope is that my reporting will be useful in everyday life and help people connect and engage with the community around them.  

 You can reach me at meredith.melland@milwaukeenns.org. 

I hope to see you around.  

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Meredith Melland is the neighborhoods reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.