NARROWSBURG, NY  — The River Reporter is looking for community volunteers for its 2025 News Ambassador program, which will be launched in early Spring of 2025.

One of the biggest challenges for the River Reporter is staff to cover the breadth of its coverage area. The news ambassador program puts trained community members at important local government meetings, thus making that information accessible to the public and the reporting staff at the River Reporter.

The role of a news ambassador is to consistently attend one community meeting per month, where they listen, record audio, and collect highlights that are easily searchable through an online repository of town and township meeting agendas, minutes, and meeting recordings. The River Reporter hopes to create a community of New Ambassadors who curate a groundswell of support for more accurate local news dissemination.

A short informational session on becoming a River Reporter News Ambassador will be held at the River Reporter office at 93 Erie Avenue in Narrowsburg, on February 27,  at 7 p.m.

To RSVP or for more information, email Laurie Stuart at publisher@riverreporter.com or call 845/252-7414, ext 133. 

The River Reporter is excited to launch this initiative as we celebrate 50 years of community journalism and look forward to engaging with community members as passionate as we are.

This initiative is funded in part by a grant from Press Forward. The River Reporter is among 205 news organizations that were chosen in the first open call to fill the gaps in news reporting.  

Press Forward is a nationwide movement to strengthen democracy by revitalizing local news and information. Press Forward’s growing coalition of 60+ funders has committed to invest more than $500 million to strengthen local newsrooms, close longstanding gaps in journalism coverage, advance public policy that expands access to local news and scale infrastructure the sector needs to thrive. Press Forward is housed at The Miami Foundation.