FIRE helps reporter prevail after newsroom layoffs
Janelle O'Dea salvaged a story from her
job at the Center for Public Integrity
A decade ago, most freelance journalists adopted their role by choice, according to our 2015 survey results.
Today, "involuntary" freelancers have risen with each round of newsroom layoffs.
In mid-2024, the nonprofit Center for Public Integrity, one of the nation's oldest nonprofit newsrooms, abruptly laid off virtually its entire editorial staff, a stunning loss to the public interest.
One story displaced by the cuts, a Kansas-based housing investigation by CPI digital reporter Janelle O'Dea and local news partners in Wichita, found another chance under a journalism collaborative housed at a regional nonprofit, with a grant for the purpose.
The development seemed promising. The relationship with news partners was "wonderful, trusting, open."
The one problem?
"I had never entered a freelance agreement before," O'Dea said. “I felt unmoored.”
Along with her counterpart at the collaborative, O'Dea enlisted FIRE to secure a comprehensive contract ensuring her protection from defamation liability.
With "all my legal bases covered," she said, O'Dea was able to "focus my energy" to complete the investigation. "The assistance from FIRE was crucial. I am so grateful."
The investigation, appearing as co-bylined stories for multiple outlets in the collaborative, established that the demolition of single-family homes in Wichita disproportionately affected an African-American community. It appeared this September in outlets like the Wichita Eagle.
FIRE is honored to help those who safeguard regional reporting. For more information, visit Wichita Journalism Collaborative.