Reporter Shannon Sollitt will begin covering business and workplace issues for The Salt Lake Tribune in July, with support from Report for America.Reporter Shannon Sollitt will begin covering business, including Utah’s tech sector and issues shaping the state’s workforce and workplaces, in July with the assistance of The national service program supports local journalism across the country by increasing the number of reporters exploring local issues that are under covered.
Sollitt is currently a Report for America corps member at the Statesman Journal in Salem, Ore., covering farming and farmworkers. She previously worked as a reporter for outlets in Jackson, Wyo. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Boston University and bachelor’s degrees in Spanish and sociology from Willamette University in Oregon.
The Willamette Valley’s agricultural sector and workforce are “the backbone of the area’s economy,” she said. Her coverage has explored the industry’s successes and challenges, including the concerns of farmworkers. They “frequently feel unheard, undervalued, especially because a language barrier prevents many of them from speaking up,” she said. “I have been privileged to get to know some of these workers and hear their stories, in their native language, so that I and readers can understand what they need.”Report for America
announced Wednesday that it will place more than 60 reporters and photojournalists, including SollittThese corps members join hundreds more who are continuing to report on undercovered communities and topics for their second or third years in the program. At The Tribune,