New reporter joins The News Tribune in June to cover military and veterans issues
To boost coverage of issues related to the military, Washington state veterans and their families, The News Tribune has hired Abbie Shull, who will begin work in the Tacoma newsroom in June as a full-time reporter.
Her position is part of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. RFA is an initiative of the nonprofit news organization The GroundTruth Project.
Shull’s position is one of 225 announced Thursday by RFA. She is part of the organization’s 2020 reporting corps that will serve in more than 160 news organizations across 45 states and Puerto Rico. The positions are funded by a combination of grant funds from RFA, local newsrooms and community support.
RFA donors include the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Natasha and Dirk Ziff, The Joyce Foundation, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, Craig Newmark Philanthropies and others.
Locally, the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation provided a generous donation in support of The News Tribune.
Pierce County is home to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Camp Murray and the American Lake VA Medical Center, while Washington state is home to a large population of veterans.
Shull will explore issues including the sometimes difficult transition from military to civilian life, challenges facing veterans in job training and medical care, JBLM’s wider impact on regional economics and culture, and other topics.
She is a graduate of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and previously covered the Louisiana Legislature for The Manship Statehouse Bureau. Shull is an alumna of Louisiana State University’s campus newspaper, The Daily Reveille, where she served as managing editor. She earned her B.A. in mass communication with a focus in journalism at Louisiana State University’s Manship School of Mass Communication.
The News Tribune is owned by McClatchy, and reporting from the position will be shared with McClatchy’s other Washington publications: The Olympian, Bellingham Herald and Tri-City Herald.
Individuals, organizations and businesses can help support the work The News Tribune and Report for America are doing by donating to RFA at bit.ly/2yxX9JA.
Donations can also be mailed directly to Report for America/The News Tribune Campaign c/o The GroundTruth Project, 10 Guest Street, Boston, MA 02135.
Contributions or gifts to The GroundTruth Project, home to Report for America, are tax deductible.
This story was originally published April 23, 2020 at 10:06 AM.